[Soviet Propaganda] 30 x Photographs of May Day Celebrations Moscow 1935–1938 For Sale

Title: [SOVIET PROPAGANDA] Group of Thirty Photographs and Photographic Postcards Documenting May Day Celebrations in Moscow, 1935–1938

Description:

Moscow: [Soyuzfoto and related Soviet photographic agencies], 1935–1938. Group of 30 gelatin silver photographs and photographic postcards, most approximately 15 × 10 cm, with slight variations; horizontal and vertical formats. Approximately half with printed postcard backs, the remainder with plain versos. Numerous images with printed captions in Russian and several Western European languages, including English, German, and French; several with photographer or agency credits. A number postally used, with stamps, cancellations, manuscript correspondence, and contemporary annotations. Very good overall with occasional light handling wear, minor creasing, corner and edge wear, surface marks, and toning.

A substantial group of thirty Soviet photographs documenting the elaborate May Day celebrations staged in Moscow during the mid-1930s, principally the demonstrations and parades of 1935 and 1938. The photographs record the transformation of May Day into one of the principal spectacles of Stalinist public culture, combining mass political demonstration, military display, physical culture, technological achievement, international Communist solidarity, and carefully choreographed popular festivity. Red Square and the Kremlin serve as the setting for numerous images, featuring enormous, organized formations of marchers and spectators, military personnel, athletes, workers, youth organizations, banners, floats, and aircraft. Among the scenes represented are mass formations crossing Red Square; military and naval personnel; ranks of athletes and physical-culture participants; young aviation modelists carrying model aircraft; workers and young women in traditional dress; delegations and foreign participants; theatrical and carnival processions; and elaborate propaganda floats.

Seller ID: 1049

Subject: Photography, Postcards, Propaganda, Soviet (USSR)

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