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Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year PlanIllustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan © The Gallery Collection/Corbis

Illustration from The Results of the First Five-Year Plan

Varvara Stepanova. 1932 C.E. Photomontage.

Curator Note

"A Soviet propaganda photomontage celebrating Stalin’s industrialization program. Stepanova, a Constructivist, uses the dynamic collage technique to create a feeling of energy and progress. The crowd supports the leader, and the red electric towers signify the modernization of the USSR. It manipulates reality to serve the state."

Form

  • Photomontage: cutting and pasting photos.
  • Limited color palette: Red (Communism), Black, White, Sepia.
  • Dynamic diagonals.
  • Scale hierarchy: Lenin is huge.
  • Typographic elements (CCCP).

Function

  • Propaganda: to promote the success of the Five-Year Plan.
  • To idolize Lenin (and by extension Stalin).
  • To verify the bright future of the USSR.
  • To reach the illiterate masses through images.
  • To create a "truth" out of fragments.

Content

  • Lenin: speaking to the masses (the orator).
  • Red Flag/Electric Tower: electrification of the country.
  • Crowd: enthusiastic support (actually a funeral crowd photo? mass manipulation).
  • CCCP: USSR letters.
  • 5: Five Year Plan.

Context

  • Stalin had replaced Lenin.
  • Constructivism turned into service for the state.
  • The Five-Year Plan caused famine and death, but the image shows success.
  • Stepanova was a leading female avant-garde artist.
  • Published in "USSR in Construction" magazine.