"A Yankee in Petrograd" Vol. 3 Invitation Given by Jim Dollar (Marietta Saginyan)
Aleksandr Rodchenko
Russian, 1891–1956
1924
This 1924 gravure book cover by Aleksandr Rodchenko uses stark geometric shapes, bold Cyrillic lettering, and photographic figures to grab the viewer’s attention and stage a polemical message about American presence in Petrograd.
You’re met by kinetic red-and-black arrows and planes that funnel the eye to a confronting scene—a broad-shouldered worker in overalls, a line of shadowy figures, and a tense dog—all composed with photomontage-like immediacy and stencil-like type.
An early Constructivist design, it helped forge a new visual vocabulary—typography as image, photomontage, and industrial geometry—that reshaped propaganda, publishing, and modern graphic design.
Medium
Gravure
Dimensions
7 x 5" (17.9 x 12.7 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Kenneth Walker Fund
Accession
407.1991.3
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
