On Thursday, February 27, in the Ivanovo Hall (an independent museum space of the Russian State Library), the grand opening of the exhibition “City extravaganza. Russian poster of the late XIX - early XX century. "

The idea to hold this exhibition came to the RSL staff - in particular, the deputy general director of the library Natalya Samoilenko - in the process of digitizing book monuments: as part of the national project “Culture”, the RSL together with the Russian National Library of St. Petersburg digitize ancient manuscripts, first-printed books and other written documents of domestic and world history. Among them are pre-revolutionary posters that relate to printed materials and will be, among other things, presented on the project website.

“When members of the expert council came to our funds and saw those posters that will be displayed on the Internet, of course, the idea was born to show these things live. Because the Internet is a great opportunity to constantly contact, study ... but to see at least once the size of these things and how they look, how they live in space is extremely important, ”said Samoilenko RT.

Pre-revolutionary advertising

In the past, Russian posters were repeatedly exhibited at RSL exhibitions, which always aroused the greatest interest among visitors. The current exposition is unique in that it includes samples of the work of pre-revolutionary masters.

“80% of the posters presented here are exhibited for the first time,” said Olga Barkovets, curator of the City Fairytale exhibition.

Recognized masterpieces in the exhibition are adjacent to the exhibits, which are distinguished by sharp humor and frank kitsch. An example is an invitation to a ball or a poster advertising tantalum lamps with a characteristic signature: “Odin delight! The electricity bill has decreased by half. ”

The fight against one of the main diseases of that time - tuberculosis was also reflected in advertising creativity. Because of him, a huge number of people died in the Russian Empire, including representatives of the imperial family. As part of the fight against the disease, a holiday appeared in Europe - White Chamomile Day. On a fixed date, charity events were held in cities, including cities of the Russian Empire.

This holiday was supported primarily by the Romanovs, as well as aristocrats and merchants. All funds raised were directed to the fight against tuberculosis. The events were very massive, and it was possible to achieve the scope with the help of advertising posters.

“There is a historical chronicle where Empress Alexandra Feodorovna personally participates in a charity bazaar and sells crafts made by her hands, as well as the hands of the great princesses,” said Barkovets, commenting on the background of one of the posters on display.

  • Deputy Director General of the RSL N.Yu. Samoilenko shows exhibits at the exhibition

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see about 160 different posters displayed along with samples of early advertising - tin boxes, candy wrappers and packages of tobacco and alcohol. The organizers have found masterpieces of poster art in the graphic department of the library, authored by Louis Cuba, Kazemir Malevich, Konstantin Korovin, Lev Bakst, Alexander Golovin, Mikhail Vrubel and many others. One of the Moscow collectors presented for the exhibition a poster by Russian abstract artist Vasily Kandinsky, which became the only exhibit not in the RSL’s own collection.

Also, visitors will be able to watch three films, posters for which are presented in the exposition - the first Russian film "Stenka Razin" (1908), as well as fragments of the films "Queen of Spades" (1916) and "King of Paris" (1917).

“We are open for various contacts, and during the exhibition we will arrange meetings with those who create and study posters, and with historians of this era. It seems to me that this is already becoming our tradition - to accompany the exhibitions with a large general educational program, ”Samoilenko said.

Material for inspiration and study of history

Despite the fact that exhibits of the 19th - early 20th centuries are displayed at the exhibition, the exposition is relevant for the present time, and its visit, according to the organizers, is mandatory for advertising workers. As Olga Barkovets told RT, the history of the poster is connected with the history of advertising of our days.

“The principles of advertising were developed back in the 19th century, and they have not changed. Only the media have changed, ”said the curator of the exhibition.

This will be discussed in lectures on modern advertising prepared by the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia, the Association for the Development of Interactive Advertising IAB Russia and the Russian Association of Marketing Services.

“A lot of font and graphic solutions are relevant today. The presented posters are already a hundred years old, and they could well adorn billboards and posters even today, ”said Valentin Smolyakov, AKAR Executive Director. He added that this cannot be said about all exhibits of the exhibition, since advertising is not pure art and always stands at the junction of business and creativity, and for successful work with a modern audience it is necessary to constantly look for new solutions.

“But I’m sure that even the best professionals in our industry - graphic designers, directors, creators - visiting this exhibition will be inspired and will find many things for thought and creativity,” said the head of AKAR.

Natalya Samoilenko also expects that the exposition and events planned within the framework of the exhibition will recall long-forgotten methods and solutions and will inspire both the advertising industry workers and representatives of other professions: everyone will be able to get acquainted with the life, way of life and dreams of people of another era.

“In the Soviet years, posters became primarily a means of propaganda. And at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries they had a different function, ”says Barkovets. According to her, the poster of that time tells about the development of industry and competition, and also represents the cultural life of the country in all its diversity.