Oct 10 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2681 -

Sale 2681 - Lot 72

Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000

NIKOLAI ZHUKOV (1908-1963) & SERGEI SAKHAROV (1906-1969)

MOSCOW THEATRE FESTIVAL. 1934.

40x28¼ inches, 101½x72 cm. [Intourist, USSR].
Condition B+ / B: repaired tears at edges into image with overpainting; overpainted margins; replaced loss at top left margin into image; restoration over creases and abrasions in image.

A prime example of the "westernization" that Intourist (The Soviet state travel agency) was willing to undergo in the 1930s in order to attract foreign visitors. They rightfully understood that the prevailing European artistic trend of Art Deco would be more appealing to potential tourists than social realism. The relationship of the piano keyboard and the columns at the theater's entrance is an excellent approach to the graphic idea of positive and negative space. One can hardly help but think of the famous French poster for Pianos Daude from 1926 featuring a very similar, overhead view of a man at the piano. However, this Soviet spin-off takes the idea much farther. The white and black keys on the piano keyboard impressively echo the columns of the concert hall and the straight folds of the background curtains. The entire image is slightly skewed to catch the eye and the typography is clear and simple.

Intourist p. 56 (var).
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