?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
MARIA NESTEROVA - BERZINA (1897–1965) SUMMER SPORTS IN USSR. Circa 1935. 40x24 3/4 inches, 102x62 cm. Condition B+: repaired tears and restoration at edges, some affecting image; repaired tear in central image; abrasions and restoration in margins and image. The use of constructivism and photomontage for propaganda had receded in the Soviet Union by the mid 1930s, in favor of Stalin's preferred 'smiling peasant' form of Socialist Realism. As an exception, travel posters that were targeted to a public outside the country were designed with more flair in a style comparable with other European travel posters of the era. This poster is an example of the "westernization" that the Soviet national travel agency, Intourist, was willing to undergo in the 1930s in order to attract foreign visitors. A crew is rowing up a scenic river toward a mighty metropolis in the distance. Presumably it is the Moskva River, which runs through Moscow (note the "M"s on the oarsmen's jerseys). Also noteworthy are the "wonderful" attractions along the river, such as the ferris wheel and the bathhouses. This is the English version.
