[MAKE MORE TANKS]. 1941. 35x231/4 inches. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins; vertical and horizontal folds. Japan. Designed shortly before he died, this was El Lissitsky's last poster. Although it is a classic Russian, political photomontage poster, with all the elements well organized against a red background in the standard manner of the genre, it lacks the dynamic enthusiasm of the posters in the early days of the revolution. That the master of Constructivism could design such a standard poster is poignant, and clearly a reflection of the artist's age. Clearly harking back to what he must have considered a major work (see the previous lot) El Lissitsky places a young boy and girl (although clearly older than in his earlier work) in the center of the poster, with a factory in the distance and a tank and an airplane grouped at the top and bottom of the image. A close look reveals that unlike in his 1929 masterpiece, the two Soviet youths do not share a common eye, which may very well be an indication that Lissitsky realized by this time that the so-called "Soviet Vision" was no longer a shared trait. Even at the end of his career El Lissitsky still had some of his earlier artistic creativity, which appears here in the innovative form of white outlining around the two war machines, which helps punctuate the photomontage. A rare piece. Lissitsky no. 252, Art & Power p. 179 no. 320.
[MAKE MORE TANKS]. 1941. 35x231/4 inches. Condition B+: repaired tears in margins; vertical and horizontal folds. Japan. Designed shortly before he died, this was El Lissitsky's last poster. Although it is a classic Russian, political photomontage poster, with all the elements well organized against a red background in the standard manner of the genre, it lacks the dynamic enthusiasm of the posters in the early days of the revolution. That the master of Constructivism could design such a standard poster is poignant, and clearly a reflection of the artist's age. Clearly harking back to what he must have considered a major work (see the previous lot) El Lissitsky places a young boy and girl (although clearly older than in his earlier work) in the center of the poster, with a factory in the distance and a tank and an airplane grouped at the top and bottom of the image. A close look reveals that unlike in his 1929 masterpiece, the two Soviet youths do not share a common eye, which may very well be an indication that Lissitsky realized by this time that the so-called "Soviet Vision" was no longer a shared trait. Even at the end of his career El Lissitsky still had some of his earlier artistic creativity, which appears here in the innovative form of white outlining around the two war machines, which helps punctuate the photomontage. A rare piece. Lissitsky no. 252, Art & Power p. 179 no. 320.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
