A Tatar Rodchenko?

An interesting article here about a Tatar artist who used caricature in his works. 

Interview with Vor, leader of the Voina Collective

Video interview here:

http://seansrussiablog.org/2012/02/07/russian-protest-art-in-the-stream/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+seansrussiablog%2FYytm+%28Sean%27s+Russia+Blog%29

Modern Russian satire

An article about the contemporary use of manipulated images in Russian politics.

And another one.

Medvedev satire

An article about the now-traditional Christmas/New Year Putin/Medvedev animated satire. 

Аркадий Арканов

An article on "Straight Ahead Into the Past", Arkadii Arkanov's new book on Russian satire and humour. 

Guardian article

An article on The Guardian website referring to the history and growth of Russian satirical comment.

Hitler satire in Ukraine

A Hitler billboard, protesting about a Stalin statue, in Ukraine. Not caricature, but interesting satire.

Russian Street Art

Interesting article on a street artist involved with the anti-Putin demonstrations, with some good visuals.

Post-election use of caricature in Putin fight-back

Very interesting article on Time Magazine's website including a reference to a deck of cards, produced by the Kremlin, with caricatures of the opposition leaders on the Jokers. Fascinating retaliatory use, creating a caricature war. I'd quite like a set of these cards, but in the meantime, there are some great images online.

These decks of cards have been handed out to supporters, turned into sandwich boards and worn around Moscow, turned into placards and taken on rallies, and now posted online.

Images via: http://demidov-anton.livejournal.com/68581.html

Very interesting phenomenon. Comes so close to Putin's accusations of US meddling in Russian elections, for one thing. For another thing, the caricatures are satirical, but not as biting as some of the anti-Putin imagery (not that they were especially vicious, especially compared with Krokodil). There are a large number of references to Russian/Soviet historical personalities in these images, which would be fascinating to analyse. It also reveals some interesting attitudes to the power of caricature. There may have been other instances as well, but this is reminiscent of the USA's use of the deck of cards analogy for those wanted for involvement with humanitarian crimes in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

29/1/12
More articles on the same theme here and here.

More Putin Cartoons

Story on the Moscow Times about banned Putin cartoons, with a link to an online gallery of the images. 

More modern Russian humour

Since Vladimir Putin's announcement that he will attempt to reclaim the Russian Presidency, a wave of satirical comment has swept the internet. Central to this development have been certain images, inspired by rumours of Putin's admiration for Brezhnev, and by a feeling that Russia might enter a period of Brezhnevian stagnation if Putin were to be re-elected as President.

http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/4416/19265501.19/0_7c453_3186b5e1_XL

http://oper.ru/gallery/view.php?t=1048752602

http://www.snob.ru/chronicle/entry/2809

http://nnm.ru/blogs/ashkaa777/putina_zamenit_leonid_ilich_brezhnev/

http://tmt-index.ru/news/article/satire-thrives-as-putin-likened-to-brezhnev/444562.html

http://www.newsland.ru/news/detail/id/793643/

http://besttoday.ru/postimage/339.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9428000/9428786.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15553373

Deineka Exhibition

There seems to be a fair bit of interest around Aleksandr Deineka (1899-1969) at the moment. There was an exhibition at the Tretiakov in 2009, another exhibition in Rome in early 2011, and now another in Madrid. There were rumours that a Deineka show might go to the Tate.

Deineka at the Tretiakov, 2010.

http://www.march.es/arte/ingles/madrid/exposiciones/aleksandr-deineka/

Russian Satire on the BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00l6y5m

Satirical Journals of the 1905 Revolution

The University of Chicago's Library's Special Collections contains some satirical journals from 1905. How far, I have often wondered, did these journals influence Krokodil?

Soviet Cartoon Masters

Article from Ogonek 1952, hosted by Google Books.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VolBAQAAIAAJ&lpg=PA28&ots=FeZuwRSdry&dq=%D0%92.%20%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q=%D0%92.%20%D0%93%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%8F%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0&f=false

Israel and the Jews in the Soviet Mirror

This is an interesting collection of Soviet cartoons depicting Israel and the Palestinian conflict which has appeared for sale on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140589269916#ht_500wt_1153

Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons

This is a very interesting website based on an exhibition which includes some fascinating Soviet cartoon resources.

THE KUKRYNIKSY

(MIKHAIL KUPRIANOV, PORFIRY KRYLOV, and NIKOLAI SOKOLOV)

Russian: 1903-1991, 1902-1990, and 1903-, respectively

Platform for Nuclear Hysteria

1966

Ink and collage on cardboard

15.6 x 12.7

http://dl.lib.brown.edu/Views_and_Reviews/index2.html

Крокодил in fiction and memoirs

Крокодил appears in some Soviet fiction and several memoirs. It is mentioned, for example, in Ch.14 of Ehrenburg's 'The Thaw', Margaret Harrison's 'Marooned in Moscow', and Donald J. Raleigh's 'Russia's Sputnik Generation'. Understanding the way Крокодил features in fiction and memoirs helps to provide a broader understanding of its cultural significance. Can anyone suggest other fictional works or memoirs in which Крокодил is mentioned?

There are lists of memoirs here and here - these works may have references to Krokodil but I have not yet read many of them.

Seventeen Moments in Soviet History

Very useful and interesting site on key moments in Soviet history and culture, including some references to Soviet cartoons and caricature.

http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php

Dieselpunk: The Flying Crocodile

The USSR sponsored a squadron of propaganda aircraft which toured the country. Often they visited major cities, but they also visited areas affected by famine in the early 1930s. Some of the aircraft were named after Soviet news publications, and here is the aircraft named after Krokodil.

What I don't know is whether the publications in question actually sponsored the aircraft, but the decoration of this ANT-9 suggests perhaps they did.

Dieselpunk: The Flying Crocodile: "A Tupolev ANT-9 trimotor used in 1930s by the Soviet propaganda squadron. Named after the Krokodil (Crocodile) satyrical magazine, it was p..."



Another page about this aircraft here.