Untitled 1943

This untitled cartoon by the Russian collective Kukryniksy was made around 1943, presumably using ink and watercolor on paper. The caricature shows the rout of Nazi forces from the city of Kharkiv, in Ukraine. In the foreground, a figure clutches a paper declaring that Kharkiv is part of a defensive system, while behind him, a red rocket propels a cluster of caricatured German soldiers into the air, shedding body parts and possessions as they go. Kukryniksy was the pseudonym of three artists who combined their skills to produce propaganda on behalf of the Soviet state. The image tells us much about the social conditions in which art is made. It is inconceivable that a critical view of the Soviet state could have been expressed through such a widely disseminated cartoon. Understanding the art of the past requires us to be alive to the politics of imagery. Research into the history of institutions and the lives of artists can help us to better understand the social context that shaped their work.