Soviet Union magazine is “the last of the extravagant photo journals of the Soviet era,” write Howard Garfinkel and Larry Zeman at Productive Arts, the antiquarian resource for Soviet avant-garde design. Soviet Union, which began in March 1950, was the successor to the impressive, five-language USSR in Construction, which ceased publication in December 1949, and which included issues designed by El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko. Soviet Union was published monthly in a full-scale format in 14 languages and in the beginning included the work of well-known Soviet photographers of the pre-war era, eventually giving way to the next generation, all in early Cold War style.
Productive Arts is offering a complete run of Soviet Union from 1950-58 (106 issues in all). “During these years, the journal was printed in its larger size approximating that of USSR in Construction. After this, the format for the magazine became smaller, then glossy and eventually kitschy, until it ceased publication in 1990,” Garfinkel and Zeman note.
For more details, including price, contact Productive Arts: rusov@productivearts.com.
