From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia USSR in Construction
USSR in Construction
USSR in Construction (Russian: СССР на стройке) was a by the Soviet Union’s most talented photo-journalists:
propaganda journal published in the decade of 1930 to Max Alpert, Arkadii Shaikhet, Georgii Zelma, Boris Ig-
1941, as well as briefly in 1949, in the Soviet Union. It natovich, Semion Fridland, and Georgii Petrusov. El Lis-
became an artistic gem and counter-current in the first sitzky and Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers designed the overall
year of socialist realism. Its pages offered some of the layout and cover arrangements for a number of issues, as
greatest examples of early 20th-century photomontage. did Alexander Rodchenko and his wife, Varvara Stepano-
With elements such as oversized pages and multi-page va.
fold-outs, each issue exists as an elaborate artistic cre- USSR in Construction first appeared not long after Stal-
ation. in’s denunciations of Constructivism as a bourgeois art
The Journal was published in Russian, French, Eng- form and the official proclamation of socialist realism as
lish, German, and, from 1938, Spanish. The journal in- the only acceptable style of art. Many avant-garde artists
formed readers abroad of the hyper-construction taking thus turned to photomontage as an alternative mode of
place within the nation, and portrayed the emergence expression which could side-step around the rigid resric-
of the Soviet Union as a leading industrial power. The tions being put on painting.
self proclaimed purpose of the magazine was to "reflect
in photography the whole scope and variety of the con-
struction work now going on the USSR”.[1] By focusing
See also
on a single theme or initiative in each issue, the con- • Soviet Union
tributing artists produced a work which effectively con- • History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953)
veyed the heroic efforts of the Soviet people in fulfilling • propaganda
the objectives set forth by Stalin to transform the tech- • Propaganda in the Soviet Union
nologically deficient country into a highly developed and • photomontage
productive world power. The first issues of USSR in Con-
struction tended to focus upon large state projects, par-
ticularly those related to industrialization. The scope of
References
the journal quickly expanded, however, with later issues [1] http://library2.usask.ca/USSRConst/about
focusing on different ethnic republics and regions, var- [2] http://library2.usask.ca/USSRConst/about
ious building projects, new transportation routes, and
themes of daily life such as children, the arts, and athlet- External links
ics, in addition to special political issues.[2]
The journal was published over the course of eleven • Some images
years and brought together articles by esteemed writers • USSR in Construction A digital presentation by the
such as Alexander Fadeyev, Isaac Babel, and Sergei Tre- University of Saskatchewan of several full issues of
tiakov, with montages composed from images created the journal.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USSR_in_Construction&oldid=448970295"
Categories:
• Publications established in 1931
• Publications disestablished in 1941
• Propaganda of the Soviet Union
• Newspapers published in the Soviet Union
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