This collection comprises two series, one being a group of 129 stencilled posters from the TASSWindows and the second consisting of 37 printed posters. They cover the period June 1943 to May1945.
The TASS posters represent an incomplete run from TASS no. 641 to no. 1300, spanning the periodJune 1943 to June 1945. The distinctive character of this phase in the war effort was evident in theposter art of the time, reflecting the expectation - following the capitulation of the German armyat Stalingrad in February 1943 and other reverses - that the Germans would be defeated.
Liberation, reconstruction and the forthcoming tasks of peacetime were major issues of thisperiod, and expressed in the posters through the following themes: the inevitable defeat of Germany;the progress of the Soviet army's victories; allied solidarity; Nazi atrocities; the liberation ofnations; the heroic Soviet people; the neutrals' collaboration with Germany.
The printed posters (MS 281/2) record only a small selection of Soviet production during the war,but are significant for their inclusion of examples of the late work of Viktor Deny, as well asyounger distinguished poster artists such as Irakly Toidze, Viktor Ivanov and Boris Koretsky. Theyrelate to the same phase of the war as the TASS Windows, running from March 1943 to February1945.