USSR posters changed the way people think
It may not seem like a common idea that people can be influenced in their thinking just by seeing a billboard. But believe it or not, the USSR did exactly that by using USSR posters. These were politically based works of art, exhibited through the powerful medium of a poster and intended to promote the communist agenda. While the communists were sometimes believed to be working independently or for a revolution, they were really just trying to further the goals of the USSR, and they did so through USSR posters.
USSR posters are a major stain on history, but should be considered part of a collection for any collector of modern Russian art. In fact, these posters show how powerful art can be in shaping people’s ideas. They often conveyed a specific facet of the Communist Party that the USSR wanted to exploit and control. They would be displayed where many people would see them and used just as advertising is used today in popular culture. In fact, these USSR posters were a dangerous way of spreading propaganda for the Communist Party, but certainly an effective one.
People would have viewed these posters with interest, but realized with fear how much communism was shaping their lives. The regime controlled through brutality and terror, even going so far as to say what people could or could not do in their artwork. It would have been terrible to live under such oppression, and that is precisely why we need reminders through posters and art from the USSR to show us just how destructive power can be if it gets into the wrong hands. The era of Stalinist art is a black mark on history, but no one, not Russian art collectors or history buffs, can ignore it.
Ultimately, it was proof through these USSR posters that power can be destructive in the hands of the wrong people and that propaganda can have a long-lasting and damaging effect on human psychology. The USSR and the communists were not afraid to change the way people think, and they did it not only through USSR posters, but also through other means. However, they understood how powerful visual art and messages can be, and these posters are, in a way, works of art themselves. They certainly do what the art purports to do and inspire terrible feelings in people.
While we must treat the communist era sensitively when discussing it, there is no shame in collecting USSR posters and Soviet art to display in a collection, as they are such an influential reminder of the power of human greed and corruption. There is no doubt that we can never allow what happened in communist times to happen again, and we must show our knowledge by sensitively displaying these posters and showing people how powerful art can be if it falls into the wrong hands. This was widely shown through the communist side and their use of USSR posters.