I believe this is a program for an exhibition of Russian communist political satirist and poster creator Viktor Deni. It is titled "WE, our friends and our enemies" and is mostly a biography of the artist. It is in three languages on the title page: Russian, English and French. I have included rough google translations of the contents, which are not perfect but you can garner an idea of what it is about.
WIR, UNSERE FREUNDE UND UNSERE FEINDE
IN DENI'S KARRIKATUREN
WE, OUR FRIENDS AND OUR FOES IN DENI'S
SKETCHES
МЫ, НАШИ ДРУЗЬЯ
И НАШИ ВРАГИ В РИСУНКАХ ДЕНИ
NO
US, NOS AMIS ET NOS ENNEMIS DANS LES
DESSINS DE DENI
Vorrede von A. Lunatscharsky Introduction of A. Lunatcharsky Préface de A. Lounatcharsky
с преди са овие и А. В. ЛУНАЧАРСКОГО
Dersetzung von V. Givetov Traduction of V. Givote Traduction de V. Girotor
в с. животовой
1930 STAATS VERLAG THE STATE-EDITION L'EDITION DE L'ETAT
NOSAU - LENINGRAD HOSCOW - LENINGRAD OSCO - LENINORD
19 зо ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО
Москва - ЛЕНИНГРАД
WIR, UNSERE FREUNDE UND UNSERE FEINDE IN
WE, our friends
and our enemies FIGURES DENIS
NO US, NOS AMIS ET NOS ENNEMIS
A. Lunatcharsky Preface de A. Lounatcharsky
with a preface and A. V.
LUNACHARSKY Dersetzung von V. Givetov Traduction of V. Givote Traduction de V. Girotorv
in. belly
1930 STAATS VERLAG THE STATE-EDITION L'EDITION DE L'ETATLENINGRAD
NOSAU -HOSCOW - LENINGRAD OSCO - LENINORD
19 zo STATE PUBLISHING
Moscow - LENINGRAD
ОТПЕЧАТАНО . в 14 орохоор татаграфа
Госари, Мосям, Валовая, 28. Гаалит А дого. Том 17a54, Зак. N 2407. Тираж 1500 экз.
22 л А.
PRINTED. at 14 Orohoor Tatagrafa
Gosari, Mosyam, Valovaya, 28. Gaalit A dogo. Volume 17a54, Zac. N 2407. Circulation 1500 copies.
22 years A.
He can lend to aims any possible expression smiling at a table, expressing a whole range of nuances. Often an expression found by Deni could not be determined by a tirade, a half-page of text. What did he do to create it? He threw in a little dozen small pencil lines.
Den's powerful art is sparkled by an inner flame, Deni is not only dessi natur, he is a poet. He makes literary work with his pencil.
What he has in particular is the liest humor, the fine and sweet smile with which he gives us, so to speak, friendly little pats to us and our friends
See for example this delicious board o Kalinit is seated with a peasant in front of a gigantic samovar
It is, one can well say it a masterpiece of the finest humor which only exists and underlines you nothing.
Wrath and contempt are also familiar & Deni. It is above all the impe bourgeoisie. risliste that he fills with his hatred. He treats her with ferocity by revealing his ferocity to her. He hates her and with her touch he passes from sarcasm to laughter, but it is a site full of so much indignation which expires in place of dirty indignation.
And with that same brilliant mastery.
Above all, the Social Democrats inspire him with contempt. Indignation is a feeling which is difficult to unite; the latter testifies to a certain point of a victory won over my adversary and we have not yet won over the bourgeoisie the definitive victory which gives us the right to draw from it. We only laugh from top to bottom. The Democratic Socialists deserve contempt in the first place and to paint them Deni finds the draw which would almost be close to a sweet rumor under this softness one did not feel steel claws scratching the opponent
Voyer, is not it comical that Scheidemann with a big sentimental eye, contemplating with pleasure a decoration? Isn't it with brilliant humor that Deni gives us the superb Kautsky lying on a large volume of Marx and surrounded by all the petty attributes of his bourgeois household?
But like those pitiful bourgeois, these philistines & cing under the douraine, nevertheless imagining themselves to be politicians by their capacities, by what they possessed or passed Sadis some intellectual gifts which contributed to make them rise rather high on On the political scale, it is natural that the stripping of their petty bourgeoisie and employees' demeanor cannot fail to affect them painfully, them and their admirers.
A few words about Deni's technical processes. They are varied. Yet Deni prefers the line of see pencil,
and the lines Targes and spots. He remains a designer par excellence and in this field he is admirable.
His main lines are striking with their virtuosity, their boldness, they flow in one stroke. The small lines add with rare precision a characteristic feature to the other tending to obtain the maximum of the force of expression. And always all his pages and all his vignettes bear a stamp of high culture, of the most sure taste and for that very reason are beautiful, beautiful even as Deni paints the stiffness, even though his hand which never trembles throbs with fury.
Each of us, thinking and feeling like Deni, will leaf through this album with a special feeling of admiration and people entirely foreign to all ideas, our very enemy, if he is loyal enough to recognize the truth in the realm of artistic preciation, if he possesses a sure godt, will be forced to lavish his praises on Deni, as on the master of his art, while overwhelming him with insults because of his hasty tendencies.
A. Loursatcharskylooks
INTRODUCTION Anyone whothrough these pages thoughtfully will, above all, be amazed over and over again. Breast talent for graphic art is namely that whichin the collection of his works, which
excites Steunen mostis valuable to chaiten. He only works with political cartoonists and illustrators. I remember him when he came to me when he was still young and very sick looking and confessed sadly that he was tired of poking around with his pencil at things that were acceptable to the old world, that he welcomed the revolution to Wine Krate i von wolle von dedicate. That later too. And now it's been ten years since he has done some talented work on the political front of our revolution.
In Deni we have an amalgamation of a strong political spirit with a light artistic tulente who has an inhospitable understanding of the situations and the relations between us, our friends and enemies.
The first thing everyone will notice in Deni's art is the fact that there are living people whom he depicts on his sheet. And that, however, is not a photographic similarity. This is something more intimate and deeper.
It is incredibly similar to even those he has never seen. And what is more, this resemblance is so strong that you had never seen it either, so you will immediately be amazed that these people of their psycho-physical soundness can only look as Derti describes them.
Take, for example, the sheet where we are given a large picture of Baldwin. Isn't that a half-gentleman balbakslen face, so much from the master and so much from the servant in itself, so much wobbly and at the same time lackluster, so much traditional shininess and no less traditional stupidity, well-known traditional stupidity. Isn't that Baldwin with his politics and his position
in the world? Certainly he is! And if you take his picture in your hand, you will immediately see that Deni has hit his face extremely accurately, more precisely than a photograph could do. The photography only showed the outside of the biting palette of the subject: Deni wiped away the paint and gave us a Baldwin's face that is, so to speak, representative of his intimate nature and the total sum of his usual reflexes.
Or that sheet. This time with the symbolic addition of harm - the face of ChiangKai-Shek. We only know Chiang Kai-Shek from photographs and from the cinema. Chiang-Kai-Shek possesses a peculiar, youthful grace for his age. Without an iota of his facial features, but by means of a few intuitively displaced lines and exaggerations, he puts all his inner content into tones. Just look at this soldier's cap, like ale aul her face pushed, how the wooly ears protrude from under her, how merciless the little one. If you look at the tissue-like eyes covered by the mass screen, you look at the pelvic bones cast out of metal, this bestial mouth. Everything speaks of a strong will, of a total lack of conscience, of human companions, of mechanical honor. This is an executioner, not an ordinary executioner who carries out the orders of other people, but the executioner general.