Moscow ROSTA Windows: Cheremnykh and Maliutin

Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962)
Explain it to everyone: In order to defeat the Polish gentry, one has to hate them; in order to hate them, one has to understand what troubles they may bring to the proletarian, 1920
Lithograph, 28 x 21 1/8” (71 x 53.6 cm)

Having showcased Petrograd ROSTA posters last week, today we highlight Moscow ROSTA posters by the seasoned cartoonist and inventor of the ROSTA windows, Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962), and by Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932). As a visual, public form of address that sought to engage the nation’s largely illiterate populace, the poster played an incomparable role in Russia and was inexorably linked to the social and political events that unfolded there. It is estimated that the Moscow ROSTA collective alone produced about two million posters during the Civil War period.

Mikhail Cheremnykh (1890–1962)
Left: Those who are against hunger, who want to have a lot of bread,
take a hammer joyfully and energetically, so no locomotive will remain
without revamping, 1920
Linocut, 21 1/8 x 15 1/4” (53.6 x 38.7 cm)
Right: Comrade, repair the red path, 1920
Lithograph, 22 5/8 x 13” (57.5 x 33 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932)
One hand stretches out to Russia with peace,
while the other gives rifles to the Poles, 1920
Lithograph, 26 1/4 x 21” (66.7 x 53.3 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932)
If you don’t want to return to the past—To arms! To the Polish front!, 1920
Lithograph, 19 7/8 x 26 15/16” (50.5 x 68.4 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932)
Peace. If you don’t want to fight anymore,
win the war against the Polish gentry, c. 1919–22
Lithograph, 24 5/8 x 19 1/2” (62.5 x 49.5 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932), text by Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930)
Only he who fights for freedom deserves it, 1920
Lithograph, 17 3/4 x 19 1/4” (45.1 x 48.9 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932), text by Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930)
To the Polish front, 1920
Lithograph, 22 7/16 x 19 1/8” (57 x 48.6 cm)

Ivan Maliutin (1891–1932)
We are fighting against the Polish gentry not against the Polish working class!, 1920
Lithograph, 25 3/8 x 17 1/2” (66.4 x 44.4 cm)

October 26, 2021