"About Lenin", by Joseph Stalin – Two Editions – Moscow, 1934 / 1935 – Binding Designed by Alexander Rodchenko

"About Lenin", by Joseph Stalin – Two Editions – Moscow, 1934 / 1935 – Binding Designed by Alexander Rodchenko

Two editions of a work by Joseph Stalin about Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Covers designed by Alexander Rodchenko.

1. О Ленине [About Lenin], by Joseph Stalin. [Moscow], Партздат, 1934. Attractive Bakelite binding. Incomplete copy.

[1-5], 8-39, [3], 55-73, [3] pages (missing pp. 6-7, and pp. 43-54). 26.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and tears, including small open tears. Minor blemishes to binding.

2. О Ленине [About Lenin], by Joseph Stalin. [Moscow], Партздат ЦК ВКП(б), 1935.

73, [3] pp. Approx. 26.5 cm. Good condition. Stains and minor blemishes. Inscriptions on front endpaper and back cover.

Alexander Rodchenko (Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ро́дченко; 1891-1956), Russian artist, designer, sculptor, and photographer, member of the Constructivist movement. Rodchenko studied art in Kazan, Tatarstan, and Moscow. He began his career in Cubist and Futurist styles, later gravitating towards Suprematism and geometric abstraction, influenced by Kandinsky and Malevich. Rodchenko served as Vladimir Tatlin's assistant, was his student, and participated in a 1916 exhibition curated by Tatlin. Under his influence, in 1919 Rodchenko began creating three-dimensional works made from various materials (wood, metal, etc.), characterized by interlocking geometric shapes forming airy and dynamic compositions.

During the 1920s, he worked regularly with the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, illustrating and photographing his books, issues of the "Left Front of the Arts" (LEF; ЛЕФ) journal, as well as books and publications by other Russian Futurist and avant-garde creators, and regularly published his photographs in the press.

Rodchenko is considered one of the most versatile artists of the Russian avant-garde: he was among the leaders of the Productivist faction, which advocated strengthening the connection between art and industrial production, and between it and the working and consumer population, thus turning to furniture design and applied arts; later he was drawn to photography and photomontage and engaged in them extensively (considered one of the pioneers of the genre), designed posters, illustrated books, worked in graphics and typography, and created sets for theater and cinema.