IISH

Designers

Soviet Union | Cuba | China

Soviet Union

Brigade KGK 25
The Brigade KGK consists of the designers Vera Adamnova Gitsevich (1897-1976), Viktor Borisovich Konetsky (born 1909) and B. Knoblok. They cooperate closely for a few years around 1930.

G. Brylov 29

Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh 11, 12, 13, 14
(1890-1962) Studies at Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture 1911-1917. Co-founder of the Rosta organization, inventor of and most productive designer in the Rosta genre. After 1921 regular contributions to satirical magazines; numerous book illustrations, designs for stage sets and posters.

Viktor Nikolaevich Deni 5, 6
(1893-1946) Real name: Denisovich. Probably the most productive political satirist. Contributes to all leading newspapers and satirical magazines and designs numerous political posters. Not an artistic innovator, but very effective as caricaturist.

Nikolay Andreevich Dolgorukov 19, 26
(1902-1980) Serves as draughtsman in the Red Army 1922-1924; stage set painter 1925-1927; studies in Moscow at Vkuthein with Bruni and D. Moor 1928-1930. As of 1928 active as poster designer and satirical illustrator for Pravda, Izvestija and other periodicals. Cooperates with V. Deni.

Dors 30

A.B. Ivanov 15, 17 (with S.A. Mirzoyan)

Gustav Gustavovich Klutsis 21, 22, 24
(1895-1938/1944) Latvian: Gustavs Klucis. Born in Latvia. Attends Riga Art Institute 1913-1915; military service in czarist army 1914-1917; chooses side with Revolution in 1917. Serves in special military unit composed of Latvians that guards the Moscow Kremlin. Probably makes designs for the May Day parades 1918 and 1919; co-organizes exhibition of art works by Latvian guards in Kremlin 1918. Studies at Svomas/Vchutemas art school 1918-1921 with Malevich and Pevsner. Marries fellow student Valentina Kulagina 1921. Pioneer of abstract art and montage. Devotes himself to making applied art to educate the masses. One of the leading photomonteurs and poster designers of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Closely cooperates with Kulagina. Increasingly suffers from censorship and criticism with the growing influence of socialist realism. Arrested in 1938 on the accusation of membership of a right-wing Latvian organization, and executed soon afterwards.

Nikolay M. Kochergin 3
(1897-1974) Studies at Stroganov Industrial Art School, Moscow, until 1918. Head of the Kharkov poster studio 1918-1920, organizer of the Rosta workshop in Baku. Also active as book and magazine illustrator and stage designer.

Nikolay Nikolaevich Kogout 4
(1891-1959) Studies at Stroganov Industrial Art School and Vchutemas, Moscow.

Valentina Nikiforovna Kulagina 20
(1902-1987) Studies at Vchutemas art school, Moscow from 1920. Marries fellow student Klutsis 1921. Closely cooperates with him on poster and design projects. Probably contributes much to works signed by Klutsis alone. Also active as designer of posters, book covers and exhibitions in her own name.

A. Kuznetsova 16 (with A. Magitson)

Lebeshev 31

Lyubimov 18, 27 (with Ogarkov)

A. Magitson 16 (with A. Kuznetsova)

E.M. Mirzoev 32

S.A. Mirzoyan 15, 17 (with A.B. Ivanov)

Dmitry Stakhievich Moor 1
(1883-1946) Real name: Orlov. Very prolific poster designer and satirical artist. Contributor to Pravda, Izvestija and satirical magazines such as Krokodil. Outstanding in his ability to combine humor and satire with monumental compositions. Teacher at Vchutemas 1922-1930.
(More posters and prints by this designer)

I. Nivinskii 7

Ogarkov 27 (with Lyubimov)

Aleksei Aleksandrovich Radakov 10
(1877-1942) Studies at Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and in St. Petersburg. Already active as satirist before 1917. Strongly influenced by the imagery of the popular prints ('Lubok').

Sergey Yakovlevic Senkin 23
(1894-1963) Studies in Moscow with Malevich as of 1919 and at Vchutemas, where he meets Klutsis, with whom he starts to cooperate. Devotes himself to the design of exhibitions, books and journals in the early 1920s. Assists El Lissitzky with his work for the Pressa in Cologne, 1928. Active as poster designer in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Sirocenqo 33

Konstantin Aleksandrovich Vyalov 28
(1900-1976) Graduates from Vchutemas art school, Moscow, in 1925. Designs stage sets, books, brochures and political and commercial posters, but continues to paint. Tries to introduce the principles of montage in painting. Well-known for his seascapes.

Designer unknown 2, 8, 9

Cuba

Eufemia Alvarez 17
(born 1943) One of the few poster designers from the years around 1970 who is still very active today.

Eduardo Muñoz Bachs 27, 29
(1937-2001) Starts making animated cartoons for Cuban television at a young age, never having received a formal arts training. Designs his first posters for the ICAIC ca. 1960 and devotes almost his entire career to this organization. Bachs is possibly the most productive Cuban poster designer. He is also active as illustrator of children's books.

Felix Beltrán 10, 25
(born 1938) Born in Havana. Trained as graphic artist in the United States 1956-1962. Studies in France in 1965. Around 1970 graphic designer for the propaganda department of the Communist Party of Cuba and professor of graphic arts at Havana University. Works on the Cuban pavilions at the World Expo's of Montreal (1967) and Osaka (1970). Moves to Mexico ca. 1980.

Jesus Forjans 1, 21
(born 1928)

Raul Martínez 6, 11, 12, 13, 30
(1927-1995) Studies at San Alejandro school for applied arts and later at the Institute of Design in Chicago (USA). Around 1959, Martínez is a well known abstract expressionist painter. Influenced by the revolution, his art starts to change. Martinez becomes active as poster designer in 1966, and develops a very personal style, blending elements from Latin American popular art and Pop Art (Andy Warhol!). Around 1970 teaches at Havana University and is artistic director of the Cuban Book Institute.

René Mederos 8, 23, 24
(born 1934)

Asela M. Perez 22
(born 1934)

Portocarrero 7

A. Prieto 9

Antonio Fernandez Reboiro 28
(born 1935) Studies medicine and architecture in Havana. Starts to work for ICAIC in 1964. Very productive poster designer, one of the first to abandon Socialist Realism. Around 1970-1972 also active as film director and as art director for films. Moves to Spain ca. 1975.

Pedro Rodriguez 16

Alfredo Rostgaard 15, 19, 26, 31, 32, 33
(1943-2004) Born in Guantanamo, Cuba. Finishes training at school for applied arts in Santiago de Cuba in 1959. Works as abstract painter. Is expelled from the communist youth because of his abstract paintings in 1960. Moves to Havana in 1965, starts to design posters and eventually gives up painting completely. Chief designer for OSPAAAL: art director of its magazine Tricontinental and supervisor of OSPAAAL's poster production until ca. 1975.

Elena Serrano 14

Designer unknown 2, 3, 4, 5, 18, 20

China

Most literature on Chinese propaganda posters contains little information about the designers. Often, not even their names are mentioned. This gap is fortunately being filled by recent research. It should also be stated that the differences between individual poster designers in China are not as evident as for instance in Cuba or the Soviet Union. Adaptation to traditional styles and genres is preferred to radical innovation and the expression of individual views. This characteristic is intensified by the rigid system of art schools, academies and publishers, all in state control, and even more by the policy during the Cultural Revolution to force trained, professional designers to work anonymously or in so-called soldier-peasant-worker art collectives.

Bei Yingren 13

Cai Zhenhua 4
(born 1912) A prolific artist and designer, who already in the 1930s worked in Shanghai for numerous publishers. Besides posters and other printed matter, he designed a sculpture for the Chinese-Soviet Friendship Hall in Shanghai and the interior of the Shanghai room in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
See also chineseposters.net

Chen Jiahua 78

Cheng Minsheng 52

Cui Yong 72

Dong Zhengyi 45

The 'Eastern Sea is Red' Unit of the Navy Airforce stationed in Shanghai 30

Gao Qikui 62, 63

Gao Quan 57
See chineseposters.net

Ha Qiongwen 16
(born 1925) One of the most productive poster designers in Shanghai, who worked for the People's Art Publishing house from ca. 1950 to 1992. His work shows many influences: from Soviet Socialist Realism and traditional Chinese art to modern international design. In 1959 he designed a 'Long Live Chairman Mao' poster, which was printed in over 2,000,000 copies and won him national fame. During the Cultural Revolution, he had his share of difficulties and was lucky to survive.
See also chineseposters.net

Han Min 14
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He Duojun 74

Hou Xude 58

Hu Zhenyu 61
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Huxian peasant painters (collective) 53

Jiang Jianzhang 59
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Jiang Nanchun 14
See chineseposters.net

Jiang Zhongbo 20

Jin Meisheng 10, 11, 17
(1902-1989) Jin Meisheng was born in Shanghai and studied Western painting. In the 1920s and 1930s he was a prolific and well-known designer of commercial calendar posters, specializing in painting elegant ladies in traditional Chinese costume. After 1949 he became prominent in the Chinese Artists Association and devoted himself to painting agricultural scenes, with great success.
See also chineseposters.net

Jin Xuechen 18, 19
(born 1904) Joined the Zhiying Studios in Shanghai in 1925 as a designer of commercial calendar posters, where he was joined by Li Mubai. Jin and Li worked together closely in the design of posters. Li would draw the human (mostly female) figure, Jin the scenery. In 1954, Li and Jin were invited to work for the Shanghai Poster Publishing House, where they designed posters and were involved in the training of young poster artists.
See also chineseposters.net

Li Chenhua 46

Li Mubai 18, 19
(1913-1991) In the late 1920s, Li Mubai joined the famous Zhiying Studios in Shanghai, where he designed many commercial calendar posters in close cooperation with Jin Xuechen. Li would draw the human (mostly female) figure, Jin the scenery. In 1954, Li and Jin were invited to work for the Shanghai Poster Publishing House, where they designed posters and were involved in the training of young poster artists.
See also chineseposters.net

Li Zongjin 3
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Lin Chenghan 65
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Liu Shumao 73

Liu Xiaoman 50

Nanjing City Fine Arts Creation Study Group 35

Nantong National Cotton Factory No. 1 (collective) 55

Peng Bin 72
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Peng Ming 70
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Political Department of the Zhejiang Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army 28

Propaganda Group of the Revolutionary Committee of the Shanghai No. 3 Ink Factory 27

Red Eagle Corps of the Airforce stationed in Nanjing 29

Qian Daxin 2
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Qin Yongchun 41
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Revolutionary Group of the Second Liaison Office of the Fifth Battalion of the Shanghai Cultural System 31

Rui Guangting 7

Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House (collective) 26

Shao Wenjin 12
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Song Wenzhi 49
Traditional Chinese painter from Nanjing. Best known for his landscapes and paintings of the Yangzi river with modern elements (power lines, steel bridges etc.).
See chineseposters.net

Tianjin People's Fine Arts Publishing House (collective) 8

Wang Baoguang 54

Wang Bingkun 69

Wang Liuying 6

Wei Yingzhou 68

Wu Min 47
See chineseposters.net

Wu Shaoyun 6, 9

Wu Xiangfeng 79

Xie Mulian 56
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Xin Liliang 5
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Xu Baozhong 72
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Yan Ming 60

Yang Keshan 57
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Yang Wende 64

Yao Zhongyu 48

Yuan Feng 55
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Zhang Lingzhi 13

Zhang Yuqing 15, 36, 71
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Zhang Zhenhua 66
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Zhao Dawu 44

Zhao Kunhan 51, 53

Zhejiang Workers Farmers and Soldiers Art Academy (collective) 25

Zheng Hongliu 72
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Zheng Nian 75

Zhou Ruizhuang 20
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Zhou Yuwei 67
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Designer unknown 1, 21, 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 76, 77

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