THE SOVIET ARTS POSTER: Theatre, Cinema, Ballet,...

THE SOVIET ARTS POSTER: Theatre, Cinema, Ballet, Circus 1917-1987 text and selection by Nina Baburina, translated by Boris Meerovich & Era Mozolkova (Penguin: $24.95). The poster has been an important medium of communication in the Soviet Union since the early part of the century, but examples reproduced in the United States usually have focused on political and social themes. This outsized (11x16 inches) volume reveals that Soviet posters for the performing arts are often dramatic, elegant and whimsical. J. Dimiters transforms the folds of a proscenium curtain into the bristles of a giant broom, while Igor Maistrovsky uses a cartoon elephant festooned with chalk stars to advertise a circus. More thorough notes would be helpful: The image reproduced above by Lithuanian artist Juoszas Galka is listed as a poster for “Devynbedziai”--which tells the reader little.