Rodchenko, Aleksandr M.

25 offset lithographs in colours, each approximately 725 x 545mm., occasional light soiling, occasional fraying and a few small marginal tears



1. Severnyi i yuzhnyi soyuzy rabochikh 70kh godov, predshestvenniki rabochei partii [Northern and southern workers' unions of the 1870s, predecessors of the workers' party]
2. Ot gruppy "Osvobozhdenie truda" do "Soyuzov borby" 1883-1894 [From the group "Emancipation of labour" to "League of the struggle" 1883-1894]
3. Soyuzy borby za osvobozhdenie rabochego klassa, 1-i S'EZD Ross. Sots.-Dem. Rab. Partii 1894-1898 [Unions of the Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, 1st Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Workers Party 1894-1898]
4. "Ekonomizm" i "iskra" ["Ekonomizm" and "Iskra"]
5. Rabochee dvizhenie v nachale 900-kh godov [The workers movement at the start of the 1900s]
6. II S'EZD Ross. Sots.-Dem. Rabochei Partii/1903/Vozniknovenie Bolshevizma i Menshevizma [II Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Workers' Party/1903/The rise of Bolshevism and Menshevism]
7. 1905 - 9 Yanvarya [1905 - 5 January]
8. 1905 leto 3ii S'EZD RS-DRP(b) [1905 Summer 3rd Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Workers' Party (Bolsheviks)]
9. 1905-Oktyabr, sovety rabochikh deputatov [1905 October, the soviets of workers' deputies]
10. 1905 Vooruzhennoe vosstanie (noyabr-decabr) [1905 Armed insurrection (November-December)]
11. 1906-1907 gg. [The years 1906-1907]
12. Ross. Sots.-Dem. Rab. Partiya v gody reaktsii 1907-1911 [The Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party in the years of reaction 1907-1911]
13. Epokha "Zvezdy" i "Pravdy" 1911-1914 [The age of "Zvezda" and "Pravda" 1911-1914]
14. Partiya v gody imperialisticheskoi voiny 1914-1916 [The Party in the year of the Imperialist War 1914-1916]
15. 1917 Fevralskaya revolyutsiya [1917 The February Revolution]
16. 1917 Ot fevralya k oktyabryu [1917 From February to October]
17. 1917 Oktyabrskaya revolyutsya [1917 The October Revolution]
18. 1918 Pervoe polugodie [1918 The first six months]
19. 1918 Nachalo grazhdanskoi voiny [1918 The beginning of the civil war]
20. 1919 V sovetskoi Rossii [1919 in Soviet Russia]
21. 1919 Sovetskaya Rossiya v belogvardeiskom okruzhenii [1919 Soviet Russia surrounded by the White Guard]
22. 1920 Okonchanie grazhdanskoi voiny [1920 The end of the civil war]
23. 1921-22 Nachalo NEPa [1921-22 The beginning of NEP (New Economic Policy)
24. 1923
25. 1924 Smert Lenina [1924 The Death of Lenin]

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A complete set of Rodchenko's impressive and visually striking posters on the history of the Communist Party in Russia. Each poster was produced in a print run 5,000 copies (except no. 1 which was produced in 20,500 copies, and no. 4 in 15,000 copies). It is very rare to find a complete set in good condition.

Rodchenko's designs are a combination of photographs and illustrations, including portraits of important figures in the history of party (predominantly Lenin) and photographs of historic events, documents, war photographs (some rather gruesome, of corpses and gibbets), maps, charts and graphs, newspapers and pamphlets. As propaganda posters they demonstrate positive industrial and economic growth as a result of communist policies, but they also dwell at some length on the complicated origins of the Communist Party from various workers' parties, particularly the major players in those parties and the various publications they produced such as "Iskra", and on the 1905 and 1917 Revolutions.