ROSTA / GPP : Pictorial Newsposter-Series of the Russian Avantgarde II , Moscow, 1921
The ROSTA graphics were not only influenced by the already declining art of the classical avant-garde, but also by the then highly topical culture of American daily strips. Communism and comics were not oppositional camps in the pre-Disney era, quite to the contrary. Particularly the windows of Mikhail Cheremnykh reveal a conspicuous stylistic proximity to comic cartooning. The world he visualised reminds one more of Coconico Country populated by funny spinach sailors than of a country devastated by civil war, where kolkhoz farmers and Red Guards struggle for their existence. (Courtesy Gallery Thomas Flor, Berlin)
GPP 173 – 1, April 1921. In the world of fools there is much wrong. These fools are not satisfied.
GPP 173 – 2, The more I reap and sow, the more I have.
GPP 173 – 3, but it´s me who pays more and more.
GPP 173 – 4, I refuse to work.
GPP 173 – 5, I am not going to drain my energy. Let them take away the land.
GPP 173 – 6, Come on, there´s no point in quitting work. Better consider these numbers:
GPP 173 – 7, With a harvest of 60 puds, be ready to give away 3 puds per each desiatina; 3 puds is not a lot and you are left with 57 puds.
GPP 184 – 1, May 1921. From now on riding the engine will not be permitted.
GPP 184 – 2, But for fools, as one knows, it´s as if the law is not written.
GPP 184 – 3, Doesn´t matter to them wether there´s room inside or not They seat themselves on whatever they´ve got
GPP 184 – 4, They say the engine´s not a horse; Its might is so great It can easily cope with the heaviest weight
GPP 184 – 5, But the locomotive is being damaged bit by bit Like drop after drop of water can split Even the mightiest rock
GPP 184 – 6, A litte today Tomorrow a bit
GPP 184 – 7, Within a month the train is a wreck because of the public
GPP 184 – 8, More than anything else, it´s a crime against the train Workers Causing suffering to poor machinists and stokers
GPP 184 – 9, Suppose while you were walking Someone hung around your neck
GPP 184 – 10, You could perhaps drag for a while
GPP 184 – 11, But you´d soon end up in a breathless pile.
GPP 184 – 12, Those who do the most damage are the first to shout That Transport in Soviet Russia has broken down.
GPP 184 – 13, But it´s you who´ve ruined the transport-you´re to blame Stop riding around on the engine for no reason
GPP 184 – 14, Climb aboard once more, and down the road you´ll be caught – And punished severely for the destruction you´ve wrought.
GPP 191 – 1, May 1921. We will reach the Commune only through the dictatorship of the proletariat – repeat this everywhere: on sea and on land, in the factories and at home.
GPP 191 – 2, Cowards and the lackeys of the bourgeoisie should be driven away – our light will be dimmed by that trash.
GPP 191 – 3, So as not to roam in the dark, you should know; the yellow Amsterdam International will lead to no good?
GPP 191 – 4, We will not hesitate to give our lives for the Revolution: wherever you cannot agitate overtly, do it covertly.
GPP 191 – 5, Remind the worker always that in far-away colonies his brother groans under the whip of Imperialism.
GPP 191 – 6, Remember that Social-traitors are your enimies and are no better than Clemenceau and Briand. Your salvation is the Communist International, the Headquarters of the World October.
GPP 191 – 7, For the proletarian to distinguish better between enemies and friends, so that strife does not confuse our ranks, rules are established for those who want to join tne Communist International; whoever wants to be in our ranks, should remember
GPP 213 – 1, May 1921. It´s necessary to bring the country back to life.
GPP 213 – 2, Barter is the basis for this revival
GPP 213 – 3,For the worker to barter his goods and eat,
GPP 213 – 4, more goods have to be manufactured.
GPP 213 – 5, And the peasant will also get more goods
GPP 213 – 6, the more fields he cultivates, the stronger agriculture becomes.
