Famous Soviet Brands

This exhibition is about those fields where Russians have excelled and thus created for themselves a handful of recognisable ‘brands’ with which one immediately associates Russia. Each of these well-known brands was identified with concrete individuals who we will show in our soon-to-come exhibition Famous Russians.

Not surprisingly, Russians and the Soviet Union have always excelled in winter sports such as ice hockey and cross-country skiing, as well as in highly technical ‘intellectual’ sports lingering with dancing disciplines such as gymnastics, ice skating and fencing. The State support of sport during Soviet times led to the appearance of excellent Russian athletes as well.

Mikhail Rojter's temperas and lithographs illustrate the Soviet sport worldwide brand. Evgeni Gavrilkevich’s watercolour features a fencing training session, a sport in which Russians have been long time winners boasting their own national school. Nikolai Tereschenko’s poster encouraging youth to go cross-country skiing is also included.

The search for fulfilment of the Socialist utopia along with security concerns and the pursuit of a universally acknowledged military and political hegemony led Russia to embark in outer space research which resulted in Russia’s becoming the first country to carry out a space journey by a manned spacecraft.

Firstly cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and later the Mir space station became undisputable successful Soviet brands. These feats are promoted here in posters and other propaganda style works of art by Evgeni Gavrilkevich, Oleg Sevastiuk, Kopeiko and Vadim Volikov.

Another brand well-worth mentioning is Russian architecture. This exhibition features works by Moscow artist Natalia Gippius depicting the Moscow Kremlin, New Arbat Avenue and the Bolshoi Theatre, a landmark of Moscow which is associated with another big Russian brand – ballet.

Soviet engineering feats such as the Moscow Metro are illustrated by artists Natalia Gippius and Roman Zhitkov, and the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station in Siberia and the Volga Hydroelectric Station on the Volga River - which can also be labelled as brands in their own right - can be seen in works by Mikhail Rojter and Vasily Eryomin.

Another famous Soviet brand is that of the Kalashnikov rifle. We can also mention the Kamaz automotive plant - producing the famous trucks.

The Soviet circus which has been historically considered as one of the top schools for this craft worldwide is featured here with a series of watercolours and temperas by Evgeni Gavrilkevich and Tatiana Alyoshina.

Last but not least we include examples of the all-time big Russian and Soviet brand – the Russian ballet. From the fifties through the seventies a pleiade of Russian ballet dancers performing on Bolshoi and Mariinsky (former Kirov) theatres became living legends and the utmost export of Soviet culture. This exhibition features original posters of famous ballet performances (the Golden Age, the Bolt, Gayané, the Sleeping Beauty, Petrushka, The Legend of Love, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Romeo and Juliet) by Oleg Sevastiuk as well as rehearsal sketches and posters by Boris Uspensky where the features of famous dancers and ballerinas such as Vladimir Vasiliev, Galina Ulanova, Natalia Bessmertnova and Yuri Grigorovich among others can be made out.

These brands have become part of the cultural heritage of the whole world.

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