''USSR in Construction'' () was a journal published in the decade of 1930 to 1941, as well as briefly in 1949, in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It became an artistic gem and counter-current in the first year of socialist realism. With elements such as oversized pages and multi-page fold-outs, each issue exists as an elaborate artistic creation. The first issue of the journal was edited by

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

. The journal was published in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, French, English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and, from 1938,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. The journal informed readers abroad of the hyper-construction taking place within the nation, and portrayed the emergence of the Soviet Union as a leading industrial power. The self-proclaimed purpose of the magazine was to "reflect in photography the whole scope and variety of the construction work now going on the USSR”. By focusing on a single theme or initiative in each issue, the contributing artists produced a work which effectively conveyed the heroic efforts of the Soviet people in fulfilling the objectives set forth by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

to transform the technologically deficient country into a highly developed and productive world power. The first issues of USSR in Construction tended to focus upon large state projects, particularly those related to

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

. The scope of the journal quickly expanded, however, with later issues focusing on different ethnic republics and regions, various building projects, new transportation routes, and themes of daily life such as children, the arts, and athletics, in addition to special political issues. The journal was published over the course of eleven years and brought together articles by esteemed writers such as Alexander Fadeyev,

Isaac Babel Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel ( – 27 January 1940) was a Soviet writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' and ''Odessa Stories'', and has been acclaimed as "the greatest prose write ...

, and Sergei Tretyakov, with montages composed from images created by the Soviet Union's most talented photo-journalists: Max Alpert, Arkady Shaikhet, Georgii Zelma, Boris Ignatovich, Semion Fridland, and George Petrusov. El Lissitzky and Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers designed the overall layout and cover arrangements for a number of issues, as did Alexander Rodchenko and his wife,

Varvara Stepanova Varvara Fyodorovna Stepanova (; – May 20, 1958) was a Russian artist. With her husband Alexander Rodchenko, she was associated with the Constructivist branch of the Russian avant-garde, which rejected aesthetic values in favour of revolutiona ...

. ''USSR in Construction'' first appeared not long after Stalin's denunciations of Constructivism as a

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

art form and the official proclamation of socialist realism as the only acceptable style of art. Many avant-garde artists thus turned to photomontage as an alternative mode of expression which could side-step around the rigid restrictions being put on painting. The last issue of the journal was published in December 1949. The magazine was succeeded by another one, ''

'', which was launched in March 1950. Japanese illustrated propaganda magazine '' Front'' was modeled on ''USSR in Construction''.

Editorial board

Apart from Gorky, the official chief editors in the 1930s were

Georgy Pyatakov Georgy Leonidovich Pyatakov (; ; 6 August 1890 – 30 January 1937) was a Ukrainian revolutionary and Soviet politician. He was a leading Bolshevik in Ukraine during and after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Born in Kiev Governorate, Pyatakov wa ...

, Valery Mezhlak, Alexander Kosarev. The de facto editor-in-chief of the magazine in the late 1930s was Yevgenia Feigenberg, the wife of

Nikolai Yezhov Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov ( rus, Николай Иванович Ежов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ (j)ɪˈʐof; 1 May 1895 – 4 February 1940), also spelt Ezhov, was a Soviet Chekism, secret police official under Joseph Stalin who ...

. The first composition of the editorial board included Mikhail Koltsov, Fedor Konar, Artemy Khalatov and Semyon Uritsky . Separate issues were published under the editorship of Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and other editorial staff. The main artist was Nikolai Stepanovich Troshin.

References

External links

Some images

''USSR in Construction''
A digital presentation by the University of Saskatchewan of several full issues of the journal. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ussr In Construction Magazines established in 1931 Magazines disestablished in 1949 Magazines published in the Soviet Union Multilingual magazines Communist magazines State media Propaganda newspapers and magazines Magazines published in Moscow Monthly magazines published in Russia

Editorial board

See also

References

External links