USSR in construction 1930 – 1937 URSS SOWJETUNION LISSITZKY RODCHENKO AVANTGARDE

Pjatakov, G(eorgi Leonidowitsch, Editor in Chief).
USSR in construction. – URSS en construction. Illustrated monthly
magazine. – Revue mensuelle illustrée. – Year 1930 – 1937. – Année 1930 –
1937. 84 issues in 7 volumes and 12 issues unbound (1935). Moscow,
State Publishing House of the RSFSR 1930-1937. Folio (43 x 30 cm.). With
numerous illustrations and fold-out plates Contemporary linen bindings
with gold-embossed spine titles (illustrated covers bound in, cover
designs by El Lissitzky, Aleksandr Rodchenko and others).

Hellyer 860. Karasik/Heiting 17 ff.
Rowell/Wye 242 f. – The first eight volumes of the most important Soviet
propaganda magazine. The volumes from 1930 to 1934 are in English and
those from 1935 to 1938 are in French; the 1935 volume is available in
individual issues. The magazine was published monthly from 1930 to 1949
in five languages (Russian, English, French, Spanish and German). Each
issue was dedicated to a different subject, such as food and industrial
production, the republic of Georgia, Soviet cinema and elections. – „In
the early 1930s photo-reportage became the foundation of the magazine
USSR in Construction that „was created as a publication for the
popularization of large-scale construction projects by photographic
means. But as the magazine grew and developed, the task of
‘popularization’ evolved into that of presenting Socialist reality with
dramatic artistry.“ (L. Mezhericher, „Na putiakh k sotsialisticheskomu
stiliu fotografii” [“On the way to a Socialist style of photography“],
No. 2, p. 14). Well known Soviet designers and photographers worked on
USSR in Construction. The industrial spirit of the magazine, expressed
in compositionally sharp subjects, panoramas and dynamic shots evokes
admiration even today and conveys the atmosphere of enthusiasm that
carried along not just the photographers, but also the builders
themselves. The creative scale of the construction engendered the
photographic epic, a style of monumental artistic photography. The
founders of this most successful and high-quality periodical were Gorky
and Koltsov“ (Mikhail Karasik). – Binding slightly rubbed, otherwise in
very good condition except for slight signs of wear and age.