This remarkable original exhibition poster created in 1991 by celebrated American Pop artist James Rosenquist was produced for his landmark exhibition held at the Central House of Artists in Moscow from 5 February to 5 March 1991. This example is particularly desirable as it is hand-signed by the artist and features photography by Russ Blaise, one of Rosenquist's frequent collaborators.
Organized under the auspices of the Union of Artists of the USSR and the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, the exhibition represented a significant cultural event during one of the most extraordinary moments of twentieth-century history: the final year of the Soviet Union.
The poster itself perfectly reflects Rosenquist's fascination with scale, colour and visual juxtaposition. Monumental red pencils rise like the towers of the Kremlin beneath a celestial vortex of light, while ornamental objects inspired by Russian decorative traditions occupy the foreground. The composition creates a striking dialogue between American Pop Art and Russian cultural symbolism.
Few exhibitions carried such historical resonance. Presented during the period of Perestroika and Glasnost, Rosenquist's Moscow exhibition symbolized the rapidly changing relationship between East and West at the end of the Cold War. It marked one of the most significant appearances by a major American Pop artist in the Soviet Union and reflected the growing cultural openness of the era.
Before becoming one of the leading figures of American Pop Art alongside Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Rosenquist worked as a billboard painter in New York during the 1950s. His experience painting enormous commercial advertisements profoundly influenced his artistic vocabulary, characterized by monumental scale, fragmented imagery and unexpected visual associations.
The spectacular photographic composition by Russ Blaise translates Rosenquist's visual universe into the language of exhibition design, combining photography, symbolism and graphic typography into an image that is simultaneously political, artistic and unmistakably of its time.
Signed exhibition posters by James Rosenquist are considerably rarer than standard unsigned examples, while works connected to the historic final years of the Soviet Union possess an additional documentary and historical importance.
Today, this poster stands as both a significant piece of Pop Art history and a fascinating record of cultural exchange during the closing chapter of the Cold War, capturing a unique moment when contemporary American art was being enthusiastically embraced by a rapidly changing Soviet society.
Original Poster
Pop Art - Exhibition - Russia
Hand-signed by the artist - Photo: Russ Blaise
Very good state
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