Weapons of the third front of the Great Patriotic War. Artists Kukryniksy cartoons Victory will be ours

By the time of the Great Patriotic War, the art of the Kukryniksy satirists had reached full, deep maturity. A creative methodology was finally formed, a very wide range of artistic techniques was defined, and visual techniques were honed to a shine. And most importantly, the enemy was targeted, studied and understood. It was understood by artists not only specifically politically, but also morally and aesthetically (as strange as such words sound in this context). From the tower of socialist humanism, the Kukryniksys vigilantly saw and recognized not only the social essence of fascist concepts, but also all their relationships with the life of the era as a whole and each of its contemporaries individually. Before the eyes of the masters stood not abstract theses, but living destinies. And this is the topic of full-blooded art. Exposing inhumanity as the flip side and internal impulse of any theories and actions of fascism, the Kukryniksy were inspired by a figurative idea full of noble ethical meaning and high content. This is the fundamental basis of their creative and civic feat during the struggle against the fascist invasion.

My first work of the 1941-1945 era - the poster “We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!” - Kukryniksy was completed on the very first day, or rather, on the very first evening of the war - June 22, 1941. On June 24, the poster became an integral part of the instantly changed, severely tense appearance of Moscow, and then of our other cities. It entered the life of Soviet people , like draft notices and darkened windows. It outlined with the lapidary clarity of a brief formula the whole situation of the great struggle that had begun: Hitler who had thrown off his mask against the Red Army, against freedom; a cannibal against man. Roughly, bluntly straightforward? Yes! And some other posters of the Kukryniks, made during the war years are the same. They could not be otherwise. This is not a spectacle for slow, thoughtful museum contemplation. It was necessary to create images that could break through the storm of thundering events and unrest of wartime, capture everyone’s imagination with their anger and passion, tell about the main, decisive features of what is happening in the language of simple, clearly clear truths.
The Kukryniksy managed to do this. Their art, as never before, has acquired a nationwide character. And it did common work. It fought. Artists resorted to different genres, like different types of weapons. They hit the enemy with long-range volleys of posters, fired at the hordes of invaders with mines and torpedoes of their cartoons, and dropped landings of satirical leaflets into their rear.

The wartime situation required the utmost efficiency of work. For many drawings for newspapers and magazines, for TASS Windows, the artists had only a few hours. There was no question of complex, long searches for an image, of options, alterations. If something turned out schematically, without a “zest”, it was unthinkable to put it aside and hide it in the archive. The Kukryniksy's new works were literally torn from their hands. And it would be snobbish hypocrisy to condemn artists for the fact that in the huge mass of their works of the war era there is a certain number of “passable”, unsuccessful ones. Moreover, such works also served their, albeit short-lived, but necessary and noble service. But judging by the best works of the period, the Kukryniksy not only generally maintained a high level of their creativity, but also gave it new strength and acute artistic influence. Generated by high pathos and the fierce inspiration of struggle, the energy of complete dedication and internal mobilization of artists imbued their art with living juices and gave it a new impetus for development. Satirical fantasy, the metaphorical structure of the image, so characteristic of artists in their caricatures of the war years, are embodied with a special capacity and lapidaryness of allegorical generalization.

For example, in “The Transformation of the Krauts” (1943), ranks of German soldiers, guided by Hitler’s pointing finger, are “transformed” first into walking fascist signs, and then into rows of birch crosses on snow-covered Russian fields. The metaphorical action of the caricature, with the clarity of an aphorism, captures the entire history of Hitler's invasion - from the origins to the ending, which the artists foresaw with complete conviction.

In a similar manner, metaphor in many other works - easily visible, clear and catchy in its rapid figurative dynamics - interprets significant events of time in its own way, sums up their results, reveals the most important and essential. Hitler tried to encircle Moscow with the spider-like claws of his tank divisions, to take Moscow in pincers, but ran into the stranglehold of other pincers - the retaliatory strike of the Soviet Army (Pliers to Pincers, 1941). The same strong, working pincers (the comparison, of course, is not accidental), bent into the figure “3,” squeeze the Fuhrer’s throat with their ends (“Three Years of War,” 1944). The empty-headed fanatic in Berlin is no longer “cooking the pot” - and here is the result of his brainless strategy - the “Russian cauldron near Minsk”, into which the butt of a Soviet soldier crushes heaps of Germans (“Two Cauldrons”, 1944).
The traitor Laval is tied with a fascist rope to the chair of the prime minister of the puppet government of Vichy, but one cannot sit comfortably on this dilapidated Rococo furniture: the blade of the Fighting France bayonet has pierced the seat right through, and the gnome Laval is balancing in despair on his hands (“Don’t sit down, not to get down...", 1943). This is a whole chapter of the history of the war years, embodied with unimaginable eccentricity, but an absolutely true and essentially accurate assessment of the very real state of affairs.

In general, the obvious majority of the satirical allegories created by the Kukryniksy during the war years have deep and multifaceted expressiveness. They, these allegories, are based on specific situations that the artists translated and distorted in their works with amazing ingenuity and brilliance of wit. The notorious gospel of fascism - "Mein Kampf" - is transformed by artists into a cash cow with Hitler's face, which Hitler himself milks - after all, the Fuhrer's income from this book was fabulous ("Cash Cow", 1942). The fascist leaders were squeezing the last juice out of their European satellites - and now a cartoon from 1942 shows how Hitler and Mussolini, like dirty laundry, wring out Laval, while the other quislings are already hanging on the rope like pathetic, spent rags. The Nazis shamelessly inflated the myth about the power of the “Atlantic Wall” they created on the northern shores of France - and the Kukryniksy show what this “inflated value” is: a long row of some kind of patched, gun-shaped firecrackers, which, like football tubes, are inflated by the Goebbels monkey (“Total Swindle” , 1943). The content of all these and many similar satirical fantasies is easily deciphered, but they are full of significant historical meaning, using a figurative X-ray to get to the background, to the hidden depths of many events and characters of the era.

I deliberately lined up the descriptions of several randomly taken cartoons by the Kukryniks. This not only allows us to get an idea of ​​the range of subjects chosen by the artists. Sometimes descriptions can serve purely art historical purposes. Here they are somewhat paradoxical: the author sought to prove that it is impossible to create an exact verbal parallel to the works of artists: the satirical works of the Kukryniksy constitute an exclusive property of the visual range of impressions, the element of visual images. It may be objected to me that fine art, just like music and architecture, has always had its own special and unique artistic expression, for which it is impossible to find an exhaustively precise verbal equivalent. I don’t argue, but this well-known truth has almost nothing to do with modern caricature. A huge part of it is much closer to literature than to fine art. True, letters and words are replaced in thousands of newspaper and magazine cartoons of the 20th century by line hieroglyphs, but by themselves they do not yet create either visual images or fine art. These caricatures are reminiscent of ancient pictography - pictorial writing, depiction of events and actions using conventional signs. The whole essence of these “pictographic” caricatures is in such and such situations, such and such actions, and even more often, in the characters’ remarks. Not only the visual image, but even the technical quality of the drawing practically does not matter here. This kind of caricature is both invented and perceived according to the laws of literature; Line hieroglyphs serve in this case as a type of printed letters.

Such cartoons can not only be retold, but also, without any loss, fully replaced with words. I do not intend to use qualitative criteria, to talk about how good or bad the genre of “pictographic” caricature is - it exists and represents a special phenomenon that needs to be understood in detail and thoroughly. But as for the Kukryniksy, their work entirely and completely belongs to the fine arts, the centuries-old tradition of satirical graphics, based on the techniques of purely visual characteristics, similes, and metaphors. During the war years, not only the drawing skills of artists, but also their visual-imaginative thinking itself reached deep maturity and virtuoso artistry. The free play of satirical imagination, the lightness and elastic force of its flight, the ability for instant and every time original figurative improvisation on a topical, even emerging topic - all this has become the everyday atmosphere of the artists’ work. In 1941-1945, they created hundreds of cartoons, and each of them - even a tiny header for a leaflet, even a sticker design on a food concentrate wrapper - contains its own satirical image. The Kukryniksy simply cannot do otherwise: visual metaphor is the native speech of their cartoons. By the way, the organic nature of this speech is one of the obvious proofs of the full-blooded vitality of classical traditions in the field of satire, the ability of these traditions to give new shoots, to enter into a living connection with our modernity.

But let’s return to the content of Kukryniksy’s military cartoons. Wasn't there some relief in them, weren't they showing a strong and merciless enemy as just pathetic and absurdly ridiculous?
This question cannot be answered in monosyllables. Despite all the external simplicity and general intelligibility of Kukryniks’s caricatures, they contain several figurative layers. Of course, fascists are ridiculed in them. This is what the artists wanted, so that the first emotional reaction that their drawings and posters could evoke would be the laughter of Soviet viewers at the Nazis, even in the most difficult periods of the war for us (I would say, especially in such periods). For this laughter gave strength in mortal combat, turned the myth of the invincibility of the fascist hordes into an empty legend, inspired contempt for the enemy, and a funny and despised enemy is not terrible.
But it’s worth thinking about the nature and basis of this laughter. It was not simply caused by fictitious comic situations, nor by the deliberate stupidity of the fascists, their appearance and actions. This is the laughter of historical justice at dirty wrongs, laughter from a position of moral and social superiority. When Hitler and his associates are portrayed as brainless, empty-headed, it’s not the same thing that the artists want to convince viewers of the clinical psychopathy of the leaders of fascism, that these “figures” are complete idiots who ended up at the helm of power by chance. This is much simpler, but then the true situation of the great struggle would be subject to unacceptable distortion: a tragedy, not an operetta, took place on the fields of the Patriotic War.

There is no trace of such distortion in the works of Kukryniksy. Hitler, Goering, Goebbels, Mussolini and others appear in their satire not so much as specific individuals, but as personified images of fascism as a whole. Mr. Adolf Hitler could have been naturally smart or stupid, talented or untalented, but the Nazi dogma that brought him to the political arena was historically doomed, hostile to reason and the prospects for the development of human civilization. Mr. Joseph Goebbels may have possessed remarkable eloquence, but everything he said was dirty lies and vile demagoguery aimed at justifying the most brutal crimes and disgusting injustice - this was determined not only by his personal qualities, but above all by the nature of the cause to which he was devoted served. In the same way, Goering, Himmler, Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, Frank, Hess, Bormann, Kaltenbrunner and other large and small demons of Nazism could have one or another shade of individual qualities, but they were all bloody monsters, cannibals only because they became active practitioners fascism: these were the only types he needed. He selected some as already established scoundrels, and gradually turned others into willing executioners - the shades are unimportant, the result is important. In the dark fascist kingdom, the logic of the formation of individual characters, the logic of individual destinies was determined by the general logic of fascism, its social content and historical function. The Kukryniksy perfectly felt and understood all this. “Hitlers of all stripes” appear in their caricatures as typical representatives of fascism as a whole. The artists sarcastically ridicule and stigmatize not the pathology of individuals, but the perverted nature of the Nazi abomination, hostile to humanity.
It is with the fact that fascism so vilely and vilely perverts the humanity in a person, monstrously deforms the human soul and human actions, that the frequent appearance of “bestiality” motifs in the anti-fascist caricatures of Kukryniksy is naturally connected. It has already been said that these motifs were found in pre-war works by artists on similar themes. Now the “brutal beginning” is being developed by masters with particular sharpness and strength.

The similarity with the fable transfer of concepts here is purely external and secondary. After all, artists had no need for Aesopian language. The inner spring of the “brutal” images in the Kukryniksy’s caricatures is completely different. Atrocity is the soul of fascism; the power of base instincts underlies all the motives and actions of its leaders. Therefore, everything animal in their depiction is completely portrait, and everything human is implausible, fake, like a mask. This paradox - terrible, but absolutely real - lies in the very essence of “nature”, which the authors of anti-fascist cartoons used in their works.

The Kukryniksy play on this disgusting paradox not only as material for artistic metaphors and hyperbole, but also as a “formula of accusation,” if we speak in the language of jurisprudence. They throw a prosecutorial charge of their satire, “drenched in bitterness and anger,” into the bestial muzzle of fascism. They accuse fascism of inhumanity. They accuse visually - the images of caricatures are perceived as material evidence of the most vile crimes. The fantastic eccentricity of the drawings, absolutely far from “external plausibility,” not only does not interfere with their life-like persuasiveness, but, on the contrary, is its surest guarantee. Is there any similarity between the appearance of the patient and the virus that caused the disease? And Kukryniksy shows precisely the virus of the fascist epidemic, revealing its hidden, hidden essence.

The animals in Kukryniksy's cartoons are of a special kind. You won't find them in any zoos. They have nothing to do with the animalistic genre. This is not surprising: after all, even the most arrogant jackal, the most poisonous snake, the most vicious shark is much more noble and attractive than a fascist. There is, in fact, nothing to blame for them, jackals and snakes - they live according to the laws that nature itself has prescribed for them. And fascism is a vile perversion of human nature, an outrage against it. He is the culprit of a disgusting metamorphosis: people, while maintaining a human appearance, behave like predators and reptiles. These are monstrous centaurs, equally dissimilar from normal “homo sapiens” and from ordinary animals. By the way, it is precisely this collision that is very accurately embodied by the artists in one of the “TASS Windows” (“Krylov’s Monkey about Goebbels”, 1934); a pitiful, dejected monkey examines the portrait with frightened amazement. Recent times have become, perhaps, even harsher and harsher in their harsh and angry sarcasm, they do not entertain, they do not amuse at their leisure. They call for struggle, for high tension of forces in the name of defending the ideals of goodness and justice. Assessing specific political situations from the standpoint of socialist ideology, the Kukryniksy give their work a universal character, reflect on the fate of the entire human civilization, and fight for its bright future. Artists attack the enemies of peace and freedom with all the devastating force of their mature, undying talent. They could, turning to the former to the newly-minted “Hitlers of all stripes,” whip them with the scourge of Pushkin’s angry and contemptuous lines: “I will torture all your bastards with the punishment of shame.” This furious tirade would sound like the motto of all their work in satire, like an oath that they kept, to which they are sacredly faithful to this day.
1969
Alexander KAMENSKY

From the album "KukryNixy POLITICAL SATIRE 1929-1946", "Soviet Artist", 1973.

Soviet poster from the Great Patriotic War

If we use the conventional division of the fronts of the Great Patriotic War into the first and second, adopted in the USSR, where the first was all defensive and offensive operations of the Red Army, and the second were the actions of the allies, then the third, in this case, was the information front. During the war years, the Soviet propaganda machine produced a whole series of famous brands that became the same symbols of Victory as the famous “thirty-four” or “Katyusha”, not inferior to them in effectiveness and in the degree of influence on fellow citizens and enemies.

The Motherland is calling

From the very first days of the war, the Soviet political poster, which at that time was one of the main means of visual propaganda and agitation, experienced a real rebirth. Symbolic, deliberately simplified images, born in the famous “Windows of GROWTH”, were replaced by extremely emotional works proclaiming the inevitable defeat of the aggressor.

The largest centers for the mass publication of posters in 1941-1945 were the Moscow and Leningrad branches of the state publishing house “Art”, “Battle Pencil”, the studio named after M.B. Grekov, publishing houses in the republics of Central Asia and Transcaucasia, cities of Siberia and the Far East, visiting editorial offices of central newspapers and teams of artists created at creative unions, art institutes, special departments of political agencies of the Red Army and the Navy.

Poster by Kukryniksy “We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!”

By the evening of June 22, 1941, the Kukryniks trio (Kupriyanov, Krylov, Sokolov) created a sketch of the poster “We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!”, which became a classic of its genre. It is noteworthy that in the original version, the Red Army bayonet pierced not the head, but the hand of Hitler, so the poster looked more like a warning. However, after it was submitted to Stalin for approval - and the leader looked through almost all the propaganda materials - on June 24 the poster appeared on the streets of Moscow in the “correct” form. Posters, cartoons in newspapers, TASS Windows, book illustrations, leaflets for German soldiers, even packaging for food concentrates sent to the front were used by the Kukryniksy to proclaim the slogan, which did not require confirmation - the enemy will be defeated.

Poster by Irakli Toidze “The Motherland is Calling”

At the end of June 1941, perhaps the main graphic work of the Great Patriotic War, which was subsequently included in all history textbooks, was released - the poster by Irakli Toidze “The Motherland Calls”. By the artist’s own admission, the idea of ​​creating a collective image of a mother calling her sons for help came to his mind completely by accident. Hearing the first message from the Sovinformburo about the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, Toidze’s wife ran into his workshop shouting “War!” Struck by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately began sketching the future masterpiece. Subsequently, the very concept of “Motherland” became almost the cornerstone of all Soviet propaganda, embodied in countless imitations and migrated to related areas of fine art, including monumental art.

In general, the theme of revenge against the invaders became the leading one in the work of poster artists at the first stage of the war. But at the same time, posters dedicated to the army and home front, the ideological and practical role of the country’s leadership and, first of all, of course, Stalin, were published in large quantities.

Poster by Nina Vatolina “Don’t talk”

The story of the creation of the famous “rear” poster, which in our time has already experienced a rebirth in the offices of various commercial structures, is simple and family-touching. We are talking about the poster “Don’t Talk” by artist Nina Vatolina. In June 1941, Izogiz editor Elena Povolotskaya offered Vatolina a job - to graphically design Marshak’s famous lines: “Be on the lookout! On days like these, the walls listen. It’s not far from chatter and gossip to betrayal,” and after a couple of days the required image was found.

The model for this work was Vatolina’s neighbor, with whom the artist often stood in line at the bakery. Thus, the stern face of a woman unknown to anyone became for many years one of the main symbols of a fortress country, permanently surrounded by fronts.

In general, the poster art of the Great Patriotic War, for all its expressiveness, did not shine with a variety of ideas. The fascist invaders were mostly caricatured, often as all sorts of crawling creatures crouching under the tracks of mighty Soviet tanks or suffocating in the grip of bearded partisans. Some of the poster slogans from 60 years ago, for example, “Fascism is the main enemy of women”, “There is only one grandfather, but he has millions of grandchildren in his country” or “Scythes, pitchforks, rakes - use them, the fascist bastard will not leave!” - are now perceived with a certain amount of irony. However, despite the controversial content of their content, military propaganda posters published in millions of copies radiate an almost physically felt force. Not so much the power of the government, which is ready to sacrifice millions of its fellow citizens for the sake of preserving the power itself, but rather the confidence of the people themselves in the inevitability of defeating the enemy.

Even a person completely unfamiliar with the heroics and mythology of the Great Patriotic War cannot remain indifferent to this textbook phrase, uttered by “that same” voice. For anyone who grew up with the feeling that “my address is neither a house nor a street,” such messages cause an almost irresistible desire to get goosebumps and stand at attention. “All the radio stations of the Soviet Union are working,” and you are already running with bated breath to the radio. “Moscow speaks,” and you literally feel the wires vibrating from Vladivostok to Brest.

Yuri Levitan

And it all started almost like in a pulp novel. A 17-year-old boy from Vladimir came to conquer the capital’s cinematic Olympus, with the firm intention of becoming no less famous artist than Kachalov. However, the members of the admissions committee of the Moscow institute were only amused by his loud talk. Quite by chance, a young Vladimir resident came across an advertisement for a group of radio announcers, and he decided to try his luck again. In the next selection committee he was auditioned by... Vasily Kachalov.

This time, the extreme provincialism of the applicant, his shabby trousers and terrifying accent went unnoticed: the examiners were fascinated by the applicant’s voice and clear diction. So Yuri Levitan was included in the group of trainees of the Radio Committee. But even taking into account all of Levitan’s natural data and talents, his fate could have turned out completely differently if not for Stalin, who one night heard an unknown announcer reading a Pravda editorial on air. The leader immediately called the Radio Committee and said that the text of his report tomorrow at the opening XVII Party Congress should be read by “this voice.” Within a few hours, chalk-white Levitan, under the benevolent gaze of several strong employees of a well-known organization, opened an envelope with revelations sacred to every Soviet person.

As for the Information Bureau itself, it was created on the second day of the war. It was headed by the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee Alexander Shcherbakov. The bureau included the head of TASS Khavinson, the head of the All-Union Radio Committee Polikarpov and a group of workers from the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. The leading role was assigned to the telegraph agency, since it had information about what was happening not only at the fronts and in the rear, but also throughout the world. From TASS, reports were sent to newspapers and the Radio Committee.

Muscovites on Nikolskaya listen to a radio announcement about the start of war

In June 1941, it was Levitan who read the message about the beginning of the war; for all four years, it was his voice that gathered crowds of people at the loudspeakers, and in May 1945, it was he who uttered the long-awaited phrase “unconditional surrender.” Hitler, who himself had undoubted oratorical talent, considered him the number one enemy of the Reich. 250 thousand marks were promised for Levitan’s head, and a special SS sabotage group was preparing to be sent to Moscow to eliminate the speaker. The leadership of the USSR took this possibility more than seriously, so the “main voice of the country” was guarded day and night by NKVD agents with orders to use weapons at the slightest danger.

Oblivion and a ban on broadcasting will come later, after the war. The Kremlin could not allow the announcer, who informed the country about the most important events of the Great Patriotic War, to read out reports from the fields of his homeland. But all this will happen later. And from 1941 to 1945, Levitan meant almost more to the country than the leader of all times and peoples. It was the voice of Victory.

Victory will be ours

A completely independent and self-sufficient component of Soviet propaganda is the famous speech of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov, which was broadcast by all radio stations of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. It was Molotov, almost eight hours after the attack, who declared the start of war. Yes, this speech did not say a word about the catastrophe on the fronts and the incredibly rapid advance of the Germans into the interior of the country, yes, there was not a word in it about the panic that gripped the Kremlin in the first hours of the war, and the reasons for the powerlessness of the army, which had previously been preparing crush the enemy on his territory.

But there was one last phrase, which everyone then repeated like a spell: “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours". Nothing more laconic and expressive was heard from black loudspeakers over the next four years. It was a statement that did not require interpretation. Victory will be ours!

Radio speech by the Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Comrade V. M. Molotov, June 22, 1941.

Citizens and women of the Soviet Union! The Soviet government and its head, Comrade Stalin, instructed me to make the following statement. Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities from their planes - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy air raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territories.

This unheard of attack on our country is a treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized peoples... All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers.

After the attack, the German Ambassador in Moscow Schulenburg at 5:30 a.m. made a statement to me as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs on behalf of his government that the German government had decided to go to war against the USSR. In response to this, on behalf of the Soviet government, I stated that until the last minute the German government did not make any claims against the Soviet government, that Germany attacked the USSR, despite the peace-loving position of the Soviet Union, and that thereby fascist Germany was the attacking party. Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given our troops an order to repulse the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland.

The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and the brave falcons of Soviet aviation will honorably fulfill their duty to their homeland, to the Soviet people and inflict a crushing blow on the aggressor. Our entire people must now be united and united as never before. Each of us must demand from ourselves and from others discipline, organization, and dedication worthy of a true Soviet patriot in order to provide all the needs of the Red Army, Navy and Air Force to ensure victory over the enemy.

The government calls on you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally your ranks even more closely around our Soviet Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.

Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours.

Kukryniksy (pseudonym based on the first syllables of their surnames), a creative team of Soviet graphic artists and painters: Kupriyanov Mikhail Vasilievich (b. 8(21).10.1903, Tetyushi, now the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), Krylov Porfiry Nikitich (b. 9(22.8.1902, village) Shchelkunovo, now Tula region), Sokolov Nikolai Alexandrovich (b. 8(21).7.1903, Moscow). Studied at the Moscow Vkhutemas-Vkhutein (between 1921 and 1929). Full members of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947), People's Artists of the USSR (1958).

In the first weeks of the war against the Soviet Union, it seemed to Nazi leaders, mesmerized by successes on the Eastern Front, that victory in the just-begun campaign had actually already been won.

The cartoon was accompanied by the verses of S. Marshak: “The fascist gloomy caliph, having lit a fragrant hookah, ordered His Scheherazades to enter with a report. And then Scheherazade came in and read the report to him: “One German machine gun destroyed one hundred thousand pillboxes And three hundred thousand nine hundred Seventeen planes!” Two "Messerschmitts" on the fly Took Alma-Ata captive with an air barrage, With the moon and darkening..." The Caliph interrupted his report, closing the door tighter: "And what, Scheherazade, are the German losses?" Caliph, you asked me a question Very intricate, I attributed German losses to the Soviet account!”

As satirical artists, the Kukryniksys took a leading place in Soviet art and gained worldwide fame. Working together since 1924, the Kukryniksys initially performed mainly caricatures on topics from literary life. The enormous potential of the Kukryniksov’s satirical talent was appreciated by M. Gorky, who, when meeting with them (1931), advised them to embrace life more widely, to draw on topics both within the country and abroad. Speaking since 1925 in newspapers and magazines (Pravda, Krokodil, etc.), the Kukryniksy, in close collaboration with journalists, developed a new type of caricature, marked by acute topicality, a destructively caustic solution to the topic, caricatured by the specificity of the types (series: “Transport” , ink, 1933-34; “About rubbish”, ink, gouache, etc., 1959-60).

A major role in the patriotic education of Soviet people was played by cartoons, posters and “TASS Windows” created by the Kukryniksy during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, combining murderous sarcasm and heroism in symbolically generalized images (“We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!”, 1941) . Kukryniksy’s post-war satire, castigating warmongers, enemies of peace and socialism, also has significant political power (“Waiters for War”, ink, 1953-57). For political cartoons and posters, Kukryniksy was awarded the USSR State Prize (1942) and the Lenin Prize (1965). Since the beginning of the commonwealth, the Kukryniksys have also been working a lot on cartoons.

Since the 20s The Kukryniksy also act as illustrators, turning to works of literature with a deep understanding of the characteristics of the depicted era and the language of the writer. The range of their creativity in this area is very wide - from sharp graphic grotesque to lyrical and picturesque images. Among the works they illustrated: “12 Chairs” (ink, 1933 and 1967) and “Golden Calf” (ink, color watercolor, 1971) by Ilf and Petrov, “Lord Golovlyov” and other works by Saltykov-Shchedrin (ink, 1939), "The Lady with the Dog" and other works by Chekhov (1940-46; USSR State Prize, 1947), "The Life of Klim Samgin" (1933), "Foma Gordeev" (1948-49; USSR State Prize, 1950) and "Mother" (1950; USSR State Prize, 1951) M. Gorky, “Don Quixote” by Cervantes (1949-52) - all black watercolor.

In easel painting, the Kukryniksy also set themselves tasks of great political significance, creatively developing the traditions of Russian realistic art and sometimes using individual techniques of their satirical graphics. They turn to historical subjects (the "Old Masters" series, 1936-37, Tretyakov Gallery), denounce fascism ["Flight of the Nazis from Novgorod", 1944-46, Russian Museum, Leningrad; "The End", 1947-48, USSR State Prize, 1949; "Indictment (War criminals and their defenders at the Nuremberg trials)", 1967; both are in the Tretyakov Gallery], giving a significant place to the theme of the heroism of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War ("Tanya", 1942-47, Tretyakov Gallery). The Kukryniksy working method is unique: the masters achieve a unified, “Kukryniksy” style, combining personal talents in a collective creative process. Individually they work as portrait and landscape painters. They were awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and medals. In 1972, P.N. Krylov, and in 1973, N.A. Sokolov, were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

Everyone lies about calendars

The cartoon was accompanied by poems by S. Marshak: He promised a lightning war in June, And spent an hour throwing saliva, Raging on the podium. He said: “I will decide the outcome of the war in two weeks!” - And the fools of his country made noise in response to him. When this period expired, the unscrupulous oracle set a two-month deadline, and Goebbels “hoh!” croaked. Now by November, then by Christmas, Then on the first of April The Fuhrer threatened to take Moscow, And the months flew by... “Don’t think about the end of the war!” - This is the last order. “Immediately hand over your pants to the treasury!” - The next order reads. Already there are no leaves of the calendar left, except for the forty-eighth of March On the wall in the yellow house...

Hitler, trying to place responsibility for the defeat near Moscow on individual senior military leaders, dismissed the commander of the ground forces, Field Marshal W. von Brauchitsch, and a number of other generals and, being the supreme commander, also took command of the ground forces of the German army.

Mournful help

After the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow, Hitler began to remove generals and field marshals from their posts, and there were cases of being put on trial and demoted.

Dirty laundry

The cartoon was accompanied by verses by S. Marshak: Two gloomy laundresses are squeezing and tindering Laval: They have twisted the Vichy government into a rope. Although Laval has little conscience and honor, he can hardly withstand such pressure. And the washerwomen squeeze, and rub, and twist, like laundry, dirty Laval, Darlan, Doriot.

Names mentioned in the poems: Doriot is the leader of one of the most pro-Hitler fascist organizations in France.

Golden hands (after the shootings in Lyon)

In April 1942, at the insistence of Berlin, Laval became prime minister of the collaborationist government in France (Vichy), having established himself as an active supporter of broad, including military, cooperation with Nazi Germany. According to his orders, reprisals were carried out against French patriots.

"By order of the German headquarters, an agricultural team under the command of Lieutenant Weber is assigned to the occupied area. The team includes 5 non-commissioned officers of the field gendarmerie, a non-commissioned officer and 11 soldiers of the artillery regiment, a suitable medical officer, a cook, an accountant, a motorcyclist... Signed: Güntzel. That's right: Hauptmann." (Extract from a German document).

The cartoon was accompanied by verses by S. Marshak: Agricultural guns, Gendarmes, together with an artillery regiment, are laying siege to a village, Where it smells of goat’s milk. The sky is hot from the cannonade. The guns thunder like a thunderstorm. One milkmaid is surrounded. One goat is besieged. As you can see, goat milk is not easy for the Germans!

Well done among the sheep, against the well done - the sheep itself

The cartoon was accompanied by poems by S. Marshak: Von Drappe, German officer. He was an exemplary stormtrooper. He could pierce a child with a well-honed blade. Our daring guards tamed the insolent man's rampage And discovered for the first time that he was not Drappe, but a sheep. Losing human form. The colonel asked for armor and suddenly bleated like a sheep. Hiding in nearby bushes.

“During the period from January 9 to 22 on the North-Western and Kalinin fronts, the Germans lost over 17,000 people killed. During the period from January 16 to 25 on the Western Front, the Germans lost over 12,000 soldiers and officers killed.”

(From reports of the Sovinformburo) During the Battle of Moscow (September 30, 1941 - April 20, 1942) in January-April, troops of the Western, Kalinin, Bryansk, and other fronts defeated the enemy and threw him back 100-250 km.

Winter Fritz (exchange of experience)

Fritz from last year to today: “Last winter, Hitler also promised us new uniforms.”

New puppet comedy staged by the Vichy Theater

"According to the German information bureau, Laval is appointed head of the Vichy government. Pétain remains the 'head of state', and Darlan remains the head of the army, navy and air force." (From newspapers). The cartoon was accompanied by poems by S. Marshak.

No wonder all of Russia remembers Borodin Day

In the initial period of the Battle of Moscow, decisive resistance was offered to the enemy on the Mozhaisk defense line. Successful battles also took place near Borodino at the site of the famous battle of 1812.

In the early spring of 1942, the Soviet-German front temporarily stabilized. The heroic work of the Soviet people ensured a rapid increase in military production. The foreign policy of the USSR achieved great success. By the summer of 1942, the anti-fascist coalition already included 28 countries.

However, the fascist army continued to remain a formidable force. The unsuccessful outcome of operations in the Kharkov region and on the Kerch Peninsula for the Soviet troops in May 1942 extremely complicated the situation on the southern wing of the Soviet-German front. In July, a wide offensive of Nazi troops began. The enemy broke through the front of the Soviet troops and entered the large bend of the Don, creating the threat of a breakthrough to the Volga and the Caucasus. On July 17, a defensive battle began at Stalingrad, which lasted until mid-November 1942. It marked the beginning of the great Battle of Stalingrad. In the south, Soviet troops, in heavy defensive battles between the Don and the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range, in the Caucasus Mountains and on the Black Sea coast, exhausted the Nazi troops and stopped their advance in early November.

On November 19, Soviet troops launched a powerful counteroffensive near Stalingrad, during which they surrounded and, in early February 1943, eliminated more than three hundred thousand enemy forces. The defeat of the Nazi troops at Stalingrad was the most important military-political event of the Second World War, marking the beginning of a radical turning point both during the Great Patriotic War and the entire Second World War.

How Hitler of last year saw Hitler today

In contrast to the Barbarossa plan, which provided for a strategic offensive of Nazi troops in 1941 in all main directions, the plan for the summer offensive campaign of 1942, developed after the defeat near Moscow, had a more limited scope. The southern direction of the Soviet-German front became the main and, essentially, the only one where the Wehrmacht intended to carry out its major offensive operations.

“...570 large landowner estates have already been created in the western regions of Ukraine... An ordinary honest working peasant does not receive land from the Germans and will not receive... They do not need Ukrainian peasants, but they need slaves who would feed the German lords with their labor.” . (From newspapers).

The cartoon was accompanied by verses by S. Marshak: The Nazis are bringing Seedlings from Germany for the sowing campaign. In rows on a bloody bed, under the shadow of guns and bayonets, hundreds and dozens of feudal landowners are planted. The German gentleman will not plow the fields, the Baron will not harrow... Our free Ukraine will not be filled by the serfs!

The vile creature is on the lantern!

In September 1942, the Vichy government led by Laval introduced compulsory labor service to supply German industry with labor: all Frenchmen between the ages of 19 and 50 could be sent to work in Germany. During Laval's tenure in power (until August 1944), 750 thousand French were sent to forced labor in Germany.

Ink Defense

The cartoon was accompanied by verses by S. Marshak: Berlin liars Fire inky anti-aircraft guns In Berlin all day long - They “shoot down” Our combat air fleet. But let the helpful feathers Crack day and night in a row. Inkwells are not artillery, And a blot is not a shell! We give our firm word to the shameless liars from Berlin, That we will send the cars they “hit” again to Prussia!

Milch cow

“Hitler’s book “My Struggle” is republished every year, which every German is forced to display in his apartment. Hitler makes a million marks from this deal alone.” (From newspapers)

The poster was accompanied by poems by S. Marshak: This wiry milkmaid has gold stamps flowing from under her hand both day and night, Raining into open bags. This ringing rain filled Pockets, safes, cellars... And the nickname of the golden cow is “Mein Kampf”, or “My Struggle”. The milkmaid milks “her struggle” with all her might, worrying and in a hurry. She knows that Her cow is not worth anything. A harsh day will soon come, long appointed by fate, When the people will drive the milkmaid and the cow to slaughter.

The cartoon was accompanied by verses by S. Marshak: With sparkling eyes, the Colonel Baron commanded: “Hands at your seams!” But seeing that the whole battalion was itching, he commanded: “Hands on the lice!”

At the Broken Trough

The defeat of the 8th Italian Army at Stalingrad, and then the defeat of Italian and German troops in North Africa caused a sharp aggravation of the internal political situation in Italy. An acute crisis also grew in the leadership of the fascist party in Italy. The loss of colonial possessions in Africa significantly narrowed the social support of the Mussolini regime, making its alliance with the big bourgeoisie hopeless.

JUST A FEW MONTHS HAVE PASSED (LOOKING AT THE FACES...). 1942

The huge losses of the Nazi troops on the Soviet-German front, especially increased as a result of the defeat near Moscow, created considerable difficulties even for such masters of false propaganda as Goebbels.

“Nobody knows how long the war will last,” the minister of propaganda said sadly in one of his speeches. “The campaign against Russia,” he said, “has been going on for eight months now. The stubborn and fierce nature of this war is confronting the Germans with more and more difficult problems. This is even reflected in the expression of the faces of the German soldiers.” (From newspapers)

Blood stains

“Frau Traudel, in a letter to her husband Leonardo on the Soviet-German front, asks to send her some things for her children. “It’s okay,” she writes, “if they are stained with blood, they can be washed.” (From newspapers)

The cartoon was accompanied by poems by S. Marshak: - My Fritz, my treasure, Write to us about your health. Send us some warm underwear, even if it's covered in blood. I can wash it. The little one will need it... This is what a woman and mother writes, Fritz’s worthy friend. When a fascist, branded with the sign of death, carried out a pogrom, She burst into the house with him invisibly - with a purse and a backpack.

Speeches are incoherent, eyes are tired

After the stunning defeat of the Nazi army near Moscow, unprecedented losses in manpower and equipment, noticeable despondency reigned in the highest military-political leadership of the Third Reich. In a number of public appearances in the winter of 1941 - spring of 1942. Hitler was rather pessimistic about the current situation. On January 30, 1942, speaking at the Berlin Sports Palace, Hitler was forced to openly admit that he did not know how he would wage the war in 1942 and whether he would be able to win it.

Kukryniksy - a creative team of Soviet graphic artists and painters, which included full members of the USSR Academy of Arts (1947), People's Artists of the USSR (1958), Heroes of Socialist Labor Mikhail Kupriyanov (1903—1991), Porfiry Krylov (1902-1990) and Nikolay Sokolov (1903—2000).

Mikhail Kupriyanov Porfiry Krylov Nikolay Sokolov

The nickname “Kukryniksy” is made up of the first syllables of surnames Ku Priyanova and Kry fishing, as well as the first three letters of the first name and the first letter of the last name Nick Olaya WITH Okolova

The three artists worked using the method of collective creativity (each also worked individually on portraits and landscapes). They became most famous for their numerous skillfully executed caricatures and cartoons, as well as book illustrations created in a characteristic caricature style.

The joint creativity of the Kukryniks began during their student years at the Higher Art and Technical Workshops. Artists came to Moscow VKHUTEMAS from different parts of the Soviet Union. Kupriyanov from Kazan, Krylov from Tula, Sokolov from Rybinsk. In 1922, Kupriyanov and Krylov met and began working together in the wall newspaper of VKHUTEMAS as Kukry and Krykup. At this time, Sokolov, still living in Rybinsk, signed Nix on his drawings. In 1924, he joined Kupriyanov and Krylov, and the three of them worked in the wall newspaper as Kukryniksy.

The group was searching for a new unified style that used the skills of each of the authors. The first to come under the pen of caricaturists were the heroes of literary works. Later, when the Kukryniksys became permanent employees of the Pravda newspaper and the Krokodil magazine, they focused primarily on political cartoons.

The milestone works for the Kukryniksy were grotesque topical cartoons on topics of domestic and international life (the “Transport” series, 1933-1934, “Warmongers”, 1953-1957), propaganda, including anti-fascist, posters (“We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy! ", 1941), illustrations for the works of Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin (1939), Anton Chekhov (1940-1946), Maxim Gorky ("The Life of Klim Samgin", "Foma Gordeev", "Mother", 1933, 1948-1949 ), Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov (“The Golden Calf”), Miguel Cervantes (“Don Quixote”).

A significant moment in creativity was the military poster “We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!” He was one of the first to appear on the streets of Moscow in June - immediately after the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. The Kukryniksy went through the entire war: their leaflets accompanied Soviet soldiers all the way to Berlin. In addition, the series of posters “TASS Windows” was very popular.

Kukryniksy at the front, 1942

They became classics of Soviet political caricature, which they understood as a weapon in the fight against the political enemy, and did not at all recognize other trends in art and in caricature, which were fully manifested primarily in the new format of the Literary Gazette (humor department “Club of 12 Chairs” ). Their political cartoons, often published in the Pravda newspaper, belong to the best examples of this genre (“Ticks in Ticks”, “I Lost a Ring...”, “Back at the Eagle, Responsible in Rome”, “Wall-haircut”, “Lion’s share”, series of drawings “Warmongers”, etc.). The team owns numerous political posters (“The Transformation of the Krauts”, “People Warn”, etc.). The Kukryniksy are also known as painters and masters of easel drawing. They are the authors of the films “Morning”, “Tanya”, “Flight of the Germans from Novgorod”, “The End” (1947-1948), “Old Masters” (1936-1937). They made pastel drawings - “I. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov", "I. V. Stalin in Kureika”, “Barricades on Presnya in 1905”, “Chkalov on the island of Udd”, etc.

ABOUT THE WORK OF KUKRYNIKSY ARTISTS

The famous Soviet poet Alexander Zharov recalls that in 1925, when he was the editor of a youth magazine, three art students once came into his office and offered their services. “What can you draw?” - Zharov asked. Then the young people immediately got down to business and, in the process of working, passing the drawing on to one another, quickly sketched several apt caricatures of the writers present, which aroused general admiration. Since then, sharp and expressive drawings by young authors, signed with the compound surname Kukryniksy, began to appear regularly in the magazine.

This was at the dawn of the joint creative activity of talented Soviet artists Mikhail Vasilyevich Kupriyanov, Porfiry Nikitich Krylov and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Sokolov.

The Kukryniksy’s creativity amazes with its diversity. Thoughtful artists work with inspiration and persistence on large paintings, caricatures, posters, book illustrations, and even sculptural portraits, achieving high results in each form of art. The extraordinary relevance of the subject matter, the ideological orientation and clarity of the content, the originality and laconicism of the artistic language - these clearly visible advantages of the Kukryniksy’s works make them understandable to the widest circle of Soviet viewers and readers.

CARICAUTURES BY KUKRYNIKS ARTISTS

Being gifted painters, the Kukryniksys, first of all and most of all, are the most prominent mastersSoviet political graphics, artistic satire. It is difficult to name at least one significant event in international life, from the 30s to the present day, which would not have caused a corresponding response in their work.

At one time, Kukryniksy’s cartoons mercilessly exposed the conspiracy of the imperialist powers against Republican Spain, the preparations for the Second World War (“Scheme for strict control of Spanish borders”, “Continuation of the last war” and others). In these, as in all other works, artists act as exponents of the views and interests of our people, who tirelessly fight for world peace.

Kukryniksy performs with no less success in the region everyday satire. Their blows are directed against everything that is outdated, inert and ugly, which hinders the movement of the Soviet people towards a wonderful future. From the extensive series of works by Kukryniksy on everyday topics, it is worth highlighting the series “Transport”, the drawings “No Day Off”, “Office Note”, “Toadstools” (about young people subservient to foreigners).

Kukryniksy's cartoons are so unique in form that the viewer immediately recognizes their authors without even looking at the signature. Inexhaustible in artistic invention and inventiveness, the Kukryniksy are able to recreate for us with a few bold and precise lines the appearance of one or another political degenerate (Stolypin, Kerensky, Wrangel), to show the typical in the images of a bureaucrat, a swindler, a grabber. The sophistication of Kukryniksov’s graphics is a striking example of the great importance of teamwork in creativity: each of the artists offers his own solution to the topic, during the discussion the best is selected from them, and then all the forces of the team are directed to developing the final version.

WWII POSTERS IN THE WORK OF KUKRYNIKS

Still fresh in our memory are the numerous posters in the “TASS Windows” created by the Kukryniksy during the harsh years of the struggle against the fascist invaders: “We will ruthlessly defeat and destroy the enemy!”, “Transformation of the Krauts”, “Volga Cliff”, “Cleaning” harvest - a formidable blow to the enemy" and others. Meeting the most pressing tasks of the time, extremely expressive, they were a powerful ideological weapon, giving even more strength to Soviet soldiers at the front and the working population in the rear.

Sharp cartoons by Kukryniksy invariably appeared on the pages of Pravda, Krokodil and other Soviet publications, pillorying the Cold War troubadours and their accomplices. In 1958-1959, cartoons “The Berlin Question”, “The Militant Parrot” and others were published. In No. 2 of “Crocodile” for 1960, dedicated to the memory of A.P. Chekhov, the witty caricature “Intruder on an International Scale” is memorable: West German Chancellor Adenauer diligently unscrews the nuts from the rails, which have a sign “Towards Peaceful Coexistence”.

PAINTINGS BY ARTISTS KUKRYNIKS

Veliky Novgorod in January 1944. Against the background of a gloomy sky, the majestic bulk of St. Sophia Cathedral rises. The wreckage of the barbarically destroyed monument “Millennium of Russia” sticks out from under the snow. Hitler’s soldiers are fussily rushing around the buildings with torches. Forced to shamefully flee from the ancient city under the mighty blows of the Soviet Army, they, in impotent anger, are trying to destroy the priceless treasures of Russian culture.

This is the content of the widely known paintings by Kukryniksy"Flight of the Nazis from Novgorod." Despite the dramatic tension of the moment, well conveyed by the contrasts of dark and light spots, the picture is imbued with an optimistic mood. The artists were able to show in it the complete doom of the degenerates who intended to enslave our socialist Motherland.

Other paintings by Kukryniksy dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War - “Tanya”, “Truth”, “The End” - are also imbued with a patriotic feeling.

"Tanya"

"End"

In the last picture, in images of great artistic power, the inglorious death of Hitlerism is shown, in the defeat of which the Soviet Union played a decisive role.

By illustrating the works of Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Chekhov and Gorky, the artists strive to fully reveal to the reader the humanistic orientation of great Russian literature. The most successful in this regard are the Kukryniksy’s drawings for Gogol’s “The Overcoat” and Chekhov’s stories “Tosca” and “I Want to Sleep.”

"Yearning"

"Overcoat"

Fable "The Fox and the Beaver"

"Tsar Nicholas examines a flea"

It should be noted that each of the Kukryniks had a bright creative individuality and worked a lot independently. Thus, M. Kupriyanov was especially fascinated by the landscapes of the Moscow region and the Volga, P. Krylov completed many portraits and perfectly conveyed the picturesque originality of Paris, Rome and Venice, and N. Sokolov lovingly depicted the life of his native Moscow and the touching beauty of Russian nature. Continuously enriching their knowledge and experience, artists combined them in one or another common plan, persistently achieving in each new work greater completeness of the plot and its artistic embodiment.

Kukryniksy - the name is nothing more than a pseudonym or abbreviation, based on the first syllables of three graphic artists of the USSR. They were: Mikhail Vasilievich Kupriyanov, Porfiry Nikitich Krylov and Nikolai Alexandrovich Sokolov. All of them were folk artists of the USSR and members of the USSR Academy of Arts.

The Kukryniksy were satirical artists. Thanks to their accurately observed subjects, they became world famous and received a special place in Soviet art. Initially, this creative union created cartoons on various topics from literature (12 chairs, The Golden Calf, Lord Golovlev, The Life of Klim Samgin, etc.). Maxim Gorky, when meeting with them, advised them to take ideas for creativity more broadly - not only within the life of literary Russia, but also political topics, including outside the country. Since 1925, they began to act as cartoonists in the newspapers: Pravda and Krokodil. Here they developed their own special style. They noted with their creativity various topical topics, sometimes with a caustic background and even humiliating the heroes of their cartoons; often there are political themes, posters with denunciations (Flight of the Nazis from Novgorod, The End, Accusation, etc.) and their response to world events to which the Soviet Union gave extremely negative rating.

They also played a significant role in the patriotic education of the Russian people. For the so-called TASS Windows, the Kukryniksys were awarded the USSR State Prize and the Lenin Prize.

Near East. Both oil and blood are flowing here again.

Monopoly. They will go to the bottom, hugging each other, instantly without a life preserver.

NATO. The NATO network is enslaving: you can instantly “go bald” in it.

Slyly thinking about the world, he set off “at all four” and does not go out of tune in this scale with his feet.

NATO. These dexterous figures have no small flaw, alas! There are all warhead systems, but there is no regular head.

Vietnam. While he didn’t know the lesson himself, he wanted to teach Vietnam a lesson, but... snarling along the way, he barely gets away with it.

Hegemonism, Anti-Sovietism, Provocations. This barrel has many chances to smash the juggler to pieces.

Soviet threat. The card is screwed, but it will be beaten anyway.