Lot 16: SEROV, VLADIMIR 1910-1968 Not One Step Back! Poster Design

SEROV, VLADIMIR 1910-1968 Not One Step Back! Poster Design c. 1941-42 Pastel on paper, 89 by 64 cm.
When during the Second World War the Soviet Union was invaded by Nazi Germany, Vladimir Serov remained in Leningrad. He headed the Leningrad Union of Artists, which had become the headquarters for the city's production of visualpropaganda material for military and political use. In the extremely difficult conditions of the blockade, the famine, the cold, hostile fire and bombing the Leningrad Union of Artists undertook major defensive operations. The artists camouflagedimportant military targets, published newspapers for the army and navy, and produced leaflets to be dropped over the location of enemy troops as well as political posters.

Among the most talented of this team was the painter and graphic designer Vladimir Serov. His first poster, We Have Fought, We Are Fighting, We'll Go on Fighting! appeared on the streets of Leningrad on 26 June 1941. In the Fighting Pencil series Serov designed such propaganda masterpieces as Only Forward, Till Our Enemy Is Crushed! and Our Cause Is Right. The Serov sketch now on offer, Not One Step Back!, was also part of this series. Serov's best poster designs are heroic in character: expressive psychological types of powerful, fierce, steadfast Soviet patriots, unhesitating in their actions, full of hate for the enemy.

Political propaganda posters by such skilled artists as Vladimir Serov are extremely rare in private collections. Most original posters are preserved in major Russian museums. It is therefore with especial pleasure that we now offer this splendid example.