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Krashchomu druhovi pioneriv ta ditey Pavlovi Petrovychu BY Lev PERESHKOL'NIK

Creator: Lev PERESHKOL'NIK
Offered by: Shapero Gallery

Description
PERESHKOL'NIK, Lev; REOZENTSVEIG, E; VOLKOVSKIY, E.

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Krashchomu druhovi pioneriv ta ditey Pavlovi Petrovychu Postyshevu raport pro nashi dila u zbyranni ta okhoroni bil'shovytskoho vrozhaya
Stock Code 111873
Odesa, Ditvidav, 4ya drukarnia DVOU im Lenina, 1933

Current price£7,500.00
Exceptionally scarce ukrainian photomontage. An incredible albeit tragic work designed by Lev Pereshkol'nik dedicated to Pavel Postyshev, a top Soviet official who acted as Stalin's direct emissary in Ukraine during Holodomor. During 1932–3 Postyshev was given unprecedented powers to eliminate all opposition to collectivisation and to crush the Communists who defended Ukrainisation. The book is heartbreaking evidence of the cruelty with which the policies were enforced, encouraging children to act as vigilantes by attacking their peers. At a time when Stalin was everything, it is unusual for a publication to be glorifying a different Soviet figure and Postyshev certainly wanted to develop his own cult of personality. Although the title declares him 'the best friend of the pioneers and children', he gained a reputation for being 'the hangman of Ukraine' and in 2010 a court in Kyiv found him posthumously guilty for complicity in genocide.

Lev Pereshkolnik (1902-1976), a Kharkiv-born and based artist, is better known for his posters, including the works depicting Kharkiv's economy in the 1st and 2nd 5-year plans. In this edition the artists included 7 full-scale photomontages (one featuring a korovai bread with the baked 'to the best shock-worker – Stalin' on it), alongside photographs and caricaturesque drawings, depicting the children's kolkhoz life. Together with the unusual binding, bold usage of blank space and margins, striking layouts, the book is a masterful example of photomontage design.

WorldCat locates just one copy, located at McGill University.

First and only edition, 4to (30.1 x 22.2); [28]pp., photomontage illustrations throughout; in the original photomontage boards with a cut-out design, spine and edges a little scuffed, slight scratch to top of lower board and small loss of paper, staples a little rusted otherwise a very good copy.

Not in Karasik.

More Information

Documentation:	Documented elsewhere (similar item)
Period:	1920-1949
Condition:	Good.
Styles / Movements:	Modern
Dealer Reference #:	111873
Incollect Reference #:	713841

Message from Seller:

Based in the heart of Mayfair in London, we specialise in prints and original works on paper across a broad range of subjects, from antique prints to modern pochoir plates, as well as photographs from vintage photography to modern art photography.