Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C , Case 3G, Shelf DR22

Sacrifice to the International

Poster
ca. 1919 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In this White (anti-Bolshevik) poster, caricatures of the Bolshevik leadership (Uritzky, Sverdlov, Zinoviev, Lunacharsky, Lenin, Patrovsky, Trotsky, Kamenev, and Radek) sacrifice an allegorical figure representing Russia to the idol of internationalism resembling Karl Marx. In the background, Alexander Kerensky (who had been Prime Minister of the Provisional Government at the time of the Bolshevik coup in November 1917) looks on impotently. In the foreground are racial and class stereotypes of a Jew with thirty pieces of silver, Asiatic Red Army soldiers with booty, and a sailor symbolising the battleship Aurora's role in the 1917 Revolution.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSacrifice to the International (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour lithograph
Brief description
'Sacrifice To The International' Civil War poster Russia, c.1919. Colour lithograph
Physical description
In this poster, caricatures of the Bolshevik leadership (Uritzky, Sverdlov, Zinoviev, Lunacharsky, Lenin, Patrovsky, Trotsky, Kamenev, and Radek) sacrifice an allegorical figure representing Russia to the idol of internationalism, a figure resembling Karl Marx. In the foreground are stereotypical figures representing the various races and classes. Onlooker in background.
Dimensions
  • Height: 63.5cm
  • Width: 88.8cm
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
In this White (anti-Bolshevik) poster, caricatures of the Bolshevik leadership (Uritzky, Sverdlov, Zinoviev, Lunacharsky, Lenin, Patrovsky, Trotsky, Kamenev, and Radek) sacrifice an allegorical figure representing Russia to the idol of internationalism resembling Karl Marx. In the background, Alexander Kerensky (who had been Prime Minister of the Provisional Government at the time of the Bolshevik coup in November 1917) looks on impotently. In the foreground are racial and class stereotypes of a Jew with thirty pieces of silver, Asiatic Red Army soldiers with booty, and a sailor symbolising the battleship Aurora's role in the 1917 Revolution.
Other number
LS.1798 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Accession number
E.1819-2004

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Record createdJuly 26, 2004
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