The course focuses on interfaces of Soviet visual arts and political propaganda that characterized the years of Revolution, the NEP Period, and Stalinism in the USSR, i.e., the years between the revolutions of 1917 and Stalin’s death in 1953. Among other things, we will study modern print media, ranging from poster art to publishing projects such as the propaganda magazine USSR in Construction, but also phenomena which, although displaying distinct visual aspects, have largely been neglected, e.g., such as picture postcards, wall newspapers, and the like. Another major topic are visual aspects of public festivities and, overall, visual aspects of the public space. We will also discuss profiles of artists who were active in forging the bridge between the avant-garde and political art (Klucis, Lissitski, Rodchenko). Time permitting, some of these domains will be compared— and contrasted— with similar phenomena in interwar Germany, especially as regards the culture of photo-illustrated magazines, visual aspects of the public space, or the cult of personality. Western contributions to Soviet visual culture will also be discussed. Students unfamiliar with Russian history will be encouraged to look for phenomena of visual propaganda in other national cultures, including the present times; knowledge of Russian is not required.

Course Requirements: Class participation, a brief power-point presentation, and a final paper will be required.
Testing for this course will include short in-class tests.

Class Format: In person, weekly class meetings will require synchronous participation.