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[ART OF INDUSTRIALIZATION] Ugol’, chugun, stal’ [i.e. The Coal, the Cast Iron, the Steel]

Denisovsky, N.

Item #924

Moscow, Leningrad: OGIZ-Izogiz, 1932. 40 leaves of autolithographs. 38x26 cm. Original illustrated cardboard portfolio.
Extremely rare. The only copy is in University of Kansas, according to the Worldcat.
The portfolio by Nikolay Denisovsky (1901-1981), VKHUTEMAS graduate, he has collaborated with Vladimir Mayakovsky on ROSTA Windows and was quite active as a poster designed in first half of the 1920s. When in 1925 OST group was formed, he became one of the founding members, alongside with Yuri Annenkov, Yuri Pimenov, Alexander Deineka, Konstantin Vialov, etc. OST united under the slogan of the fight against AKHRR naturalism, pointlessness and constructivism; advocated a new realistic form and the creation of a modern easel painting. OST has emphasised its link to European expressionism and primitivism, and Denisovsky no doubt was one of the strongest links to primitivist tradition. This portfolio inspired by the classical topic for OST artists, the industrialization and power of the miners and it achieves its artistic goals with the minimal tool kit - the monochrome images, blurred silhouettes of the workers, etc.
In the transformation from the abstract avant-garde art of the early 1920s to the blunt candid visual perception of Soviet social realism, Denisovsky occupies the special place. From collaborations with Mayakovsky (he has also designed one book for the poet) and OST, he has moved to creating the realistic portraits of party leaders. During WWII he was an active member of TASS-windows creating satirical anti-Nazi posters.

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