Festive decoration of Petrograd — Leningrad during the celebration of the anniversaries of the October Revolution. 1918-1987
from 7 November 2017 to 23 September 2018
The year 2017 is marked by celebrations of the centenary of the October Revolution - an exceptional event that radically affected the course of Russian and world history.
Beginning from 1917, revolutionary festivals have played an important role in the political and artistic life of our country. Not only were they a powerful means of agitation for the Soviet regime, but they also pictured the dreams and wishes of people about a new beautiful life in colourful, exciting and clear images.
The first anniversary of the October Revolution was commemorated with a grand-scale celebration. More than a hundred artists of different art schools and movements were involved in the decoration of the city, including many prominent figures. These are the painters N. Altman, V. Baranov-Rossine, M. Dobuzhinsky, B. Kustodiev, V. Lebedev, K. Petrov-Vodkin; architects D. Buryshkin, D. Iofan, I. Langbard and others. They created hundreds of propaganda posters and banners, decorated the city's squares with numerous series of panels, and designed temporary constructions on various topics. That period was the time when a new revolutionary style of a city festival was discovered.
The exhibition shows unique designs of the Uritsky Square (now Palace Square) decorated for the first anniversary of the October Revolution, done by N. Altman. The artist sought to find a contrasting image to the present view of the square.
