?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 4,000 - $ 6,000
MAX LITWAK AND ROBERT FEDOR (DATES UNKNOWN) BESUCHET / USSR. 1930. 40 1/4x28 inches, 102 1/4x71 cm. Condition B+: repaired tears, creases, abrasions and restoration along vertical and horizontal folds and in margins and image. Intourist, the Soviet state travel agency, was founded in 1929 for the purpose of facilitating foreign visits to the Soviet Union. This state-controlled tourism served the dual purpose of propagating the myth of Socialism and the Soviet way of life to the outside world, and helping the impoverished Bolshevik government raise much-needed foreign currency. This is one of the earliest and rarest Intourist posters. It is also one of the best. The dynamic Art Deco image presents a tremendous amount of imagery in an effective, vibrant and aesthetically compelling manner; it depicts modern transportation in the form of trains, automobiles and ocean liners, showing how up-to-date and connected the Soviet Union is. The globe and a variety of foliage suggest the vastness and variety of the Soviet Union, and the image also presents the historical aspect of Russia via its architecture, as well as an indication of the incredible amount of ongoing construction and modernization taking place within the country. Litwak also designed another Intourist poster, for the Trans-Siberian railway, in addition to several stylized Art Deco advertising and movie posters. German version. Voyage p. 67.
