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[Printed in July, 1941] Na tobi!.. ukrains’kogo hliba… ukraiins’koi stali… ta zemli! [i.e. Here, Take! Ukrainian Bread… From Ukrainian Steel… And Earth!]

Item #2288

Kharkiv: Mistectvo, 1941. 34.5 x 54 cm. 1 of 20000 copies.

One of the earliest Ukrainian posters to be used against Germans in WWII – it was signed off for printing on 14th of July, 1941. At the time the military action has been very active in Ukraine with the majority of Ukrainian-speaking parts of the country already conquered by the Nazis. 7th of July the fight over Kiev began that will lead to the total defeat of the Red Army by 17th of September, 1941. By 24th of October, 1941 Kharkiv itself would be completely controlled by the Nazis. Its liberation won’t come until the late august of 1943. This poster is one of the few examples of Ukrainian language printing in Kharkiv in the first 4 months of the war, when it remained Soviet. Design of the poster was done by Valentin Litvynenko (1908-1979). From 1932 to 1934 he studied at the workers’ faculty at the Kharkov Art Institute. In 1934 he moved to Kiev and worked in the newspaper “Komsomolets Ukrainy” as an artist and retoucher. In it, the young graphic artist places his caricatures, which definitely and sharply reveal his talent as a satirist and humorist. From 1934 to 1935 he studied at the studio of I.F.Seleznev. In 1941 Valentin Litvinenko was invited to work for the satirical magazine Peretz. Litvinenko accepted the invitation and collaborated with the magazine from the day of its foundation - the artist gave all the heat of his original talent to any drawing. During the war years, his work was entirely devoted to political satire. Valentin Litvinenko from the first days of the war, together with famous artists V. Vovchenko, M. Deregus, I. Kruzhkov, I. Mironenko, worked in army newspapers, and then in publishing houses in Moscow, Kiev, Kharkov ... He was engaged in propaganda windows, posters, satirical leaflets, newspaper drawings, drew models of postcards and wrote slogans. His military compositions “Gas Chamber”, "Uncle, I'm Afraid”, “New order”, “Winner”, “1942 in Ukraine”, were distinguished by acute dramatic expressiveness, and their performance was already influencing the individual style of the artist that was forming at that time. These drawings found a lively response in the hearts of people, exposed and branded Nazism. Litvinenko's works of the war period are vital, patriotic, passionate and truthful. In the days of victory, he created a poster: "Glory to the Winner!" (1945). The second designer of this poster listed is R. Mel’nichuk (1905-1960).

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Status: On Hold