On Views and Reviews: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons (Fleming Museum)

This special exhibit of Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons depicts the rise of Lenin, Trotsky, Brezniev, and Stalin in Russia using Russian propaganda. The exhibit uses these images to link Western Society during World War II with the development of Communism in Russia and the industrialization of modern nations. In one image, Stalin is surrounded by admiring onlookers while the West and Capitalism are depicted as a monster hiding behind the mask of a woman’s face. David Winton, the exhibit creator, skillfully uses art to depict the communists’ struggle to gain power and to show a dual image of Stalin. Stalin appears as a man who led his country to become an industrialized nation and world power while the modern viewer is aware of the deaths, brutality, and strict control of opposition leaders by the KGB that suppressed Russian people.
At the same time the exhibit calls the viewer to examine Western Society and Capitalist economies more closely. The exhibit displays the image above, showing the Allied Powers alliance against Hitler, only perhaps to leave an equally tyrannous leader in power. The economic depression in the U.S. and Allied Powers (WWI) treatment of Germany are shown as key factors leading to World War II. Other works show U.S. Big Business owners crushing helpless civilians beneath their feet. The exhibit concludes with a poster showing Stalin raising his hand in the air, in the background machines and industry rise up.
The exhibit ultimately calls the viewer to reevaluate the idea of progress and the hypocrisies underlying Western Society, while simultaneously revealing the failure and duality of Russian society during Stalin’s Regime. If the viewer takes anything from this display it must surely be an eerie reminder of Stalin’s treatment of the Russian people and Russia’s relationship to the West post WWII; Causing the viewer to realize the role of Western Society in WWII and the way Capitalist societies overcame and dealt with the same ills of industrialization.
(Chap.29- Rise of Dictatorships Connection Across Time)