Among the most iconic images of the Cold War space race – the dawn of the ‘space age’ – were the colourful posters and illustrations created by the USSR to promote their successes in putting satellites, animals and human beings in Earth orbit.
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The Soviets enjoyed numerous space firsts, including Sputnik 1 becoming the first artificial satellite to be launched from Earth into space (1957), Yuri Gagarin’s triumph at becoming the first human to reach Earth orbit (1961), and Alexei Leonov’s daring and unprecedented spacewalk (1965).
To boast of their successes and hint at the domination of space that was surely to come in the not-too-distant future, Soviet artists created awe-inspiring posters and magazine covers full of national pride and vivid imagination.
Space artwork from the USSR is the subject of a new book, Soviet Space Graphics, published by Phaidon, that reveals some of the historic images produced during the golden age of Soviet spaceflight.
We’ve selected a few of our favourite pieces, created during a time when interstellar travel seemed just around the corner.
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All images courtesy of Phaidon Publishing and used with permission.
Youth, issue 4, 1976, illustration by V. Kotlyar. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Knowledge is Power, issue 10, 1960, illustration by V. Viktorov depicting space dogs Belka and Strelka. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Radio, issue 6, 1956, illustration by N. Grishin, for the article ‘Television of the Future’, which discusses the potential for communications satellites to transform television. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Technology for the Youth, issue 8, 1958, ‘Machines – Astronauts’, illustration by N. Kolchitsky showing the individual components of Sputnik 3 as different characters. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Outlook, issue 4, 1976, ‘Yuri Gagarin: Let’s Go!’, illustration by S. Alimov. The first track on the magazine’s accompanying flexi-disc record was a recording by Gagarin titled ‘Planet Earth is Beautiful’. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Technology for the Youth, issue 10, 1965, illustration by Alexei Leonov for ‘The First Space Dawn Artist Provides Us With His Drawings’, depicting the Sun rising over Earth. Leonov was the first human to spacewalk. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Technology for the Youth, issue 2, 1959, illustration by B. Dashkov for the article ‘What Would a Space Station on the Moon Look Like?’ Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Technology for the Youth, issue 11, 1965, ‘Satellite for Everyone’, illustration by O. Yakovlev. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Technology for the Youth, issue 5, 1969, ‘Oh, that Mysterious Moon!’, illustration by R. Avotin for an article that presents photographs from the Luna 9 unmanned space mission. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Young Technician, issue 10, 1964, illustration by R. Avotin for the article ‘Space Greenhouse’, which hypothesizes on the creation of an environment suitable for growing plants in space. Picture credit: The Moscow Design Museum
Soviet Space Graphics is available from 1 April 2020 and is published by Phaidon.
