Poster "Modern light sport: Fritz takes a record in jumping", "Combat pencil", No. 76

A fairly rare poster in excellent collectible condition. Edition of the Leningrad Union of Soviet Artists. Artists I. S. Astapov, V.I. Kurdov, poems by V. Timofeev. Size 53*35.5 cm. Guarantee of authenticity.

During the Great Patriotic War, many Leningrad artists did not interrupt their creative activities, continuing to work even in the conditions of the blockade. An important place in their work was occupied by participation in agitation and propaganda work: the creation of posters, propaganda splints and postcards, cooperation with city and military newspapers, the production of visual propaganda tools, etc. Among them were members of the artists' association "Battle Pencil". This creative team was formed back in December 1939, during the Soviet-Finnish war. On the eve of the new year 1940, the first issue of the satirical leaflet "Battle Pencil" was published, which gave the name to the entire artistic association. After the end of the war in the spring of 1940, the production of posters was discontinued, but with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in June 1941, it resumed. The posters of the "Fighting Pencil" were distinguished by a significant variety. They were performed in the traditions of a splint, a national patriotic picture, a poster. The themes and plots were also very different: these were cartoons, propaganda leaflets, stories about the exploits of Soviet people at the front and in the rear, and visual illustrations to the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, and a reminder of the rules of conduct in the conditions of the city-front, and a story about events on other fronts of the Second World War, and much more. In total, during the years of the Great Patriotic War, 103 issues of the "Combat Pencil" were issued with a total circulation of about 2 million copies. In 1945, after the Victory, the issue of the "Combat Pencil" was discontinued again, as in 1940. He received a new life in 1956, the subjects of the posters were devoted mainly to satire on both domestic and international topics. Finally, the "Battle Pencil" ceased to exist in 1990.