Workers Peasants Red Army, El Lissitzky (designer)

Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya

Moscow, IZOGIZ, 1934, Leatherette embossed

Oblong folio. 200 pp. Edited by Rodionov, Karpacheva and others. Original embossed dark blue/black leatherette cloth. Covers rubbed; some internal soiling and some edges of pages reinforced.  

This in-depth and richly illustrated photo-essay on the inner workings of Red Army is a brilliant example of Constructivist book design. The cover has an embossed tank. It contains a poster-size foldout at the opening, photocollages, portraits, marching Red Army soldiers. Introductory statement by Josef Stalin. An exercise in Stalinist propaganda during the Second Five Year Plan published on the eve of the Great Purge. Composed without text, the issue meant by the creators as a movie book and to be read without words. With photographs in various tints by G. Zelmanovich, D. Debabov, A. Polyakov, A. Shaikhet, P. Lass and others.

Very good condition, with some soiling and a small tear on a corner of the fold-out.