This book shows 250 film posters from the Soviet Union of the 1920s and early 1930s, revealing a surprising world of innovative aesthetics. With bold colors, dramatic angles, and eye-catching typography, these designs reveal the experimental avant-garde of the early USSR, before Soviet Realism became official art doctrine.

At the intersection of the visual, graphic, and cinematic arts, film posters are a unique and thrilling record of a particular cultural Zeitgeist. This book brings together 250 posters from the Soviet Union of the 1920s and early 1930s to explore the energy and invention of this period, before Soviet Realism became the official art doctrine.

Drawn from the private collection of collector Susan Pack, the selection includes the work of 27 different artists. From bold figuration to architectural elements, each artist displays a distinct style and aesthetic, as much as they collectively eschew the glamour of Hollywood for more stark, striking, even challenging images, often marked by unusual angles, dynamic compositions, and startling close-ups.

Details

ISBN13: 9783754405543
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 512
Edition: Multilingual edition
Publication Date: 29 Aug 2026
Publisher: Taschen GmbH
Publication City, Country: Cologne, Germany
Dimensions (cm): 21.7(H)x15.6(L)x3.5(W)1160
Weight (gm): 1160

Author Biography

Susan Pack graduated from Princeton in 1973. For 10 years she worked in advertising, ultimately as senior copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi in New York. She began collecting rare advertising posters in the 1970s, in due course acquiring one of the world’s foremost collections of avant-garde Russian film posters.

Reviews

These avant garde film posters were as bold and innovative as the movies they advertised. * The Guardian *