Mathématicien 1965

This striking 1965 Soviet poster embodies the intellectual and cosmic ambition that defined the USSR during the height of the Space Age. Combining portraiture, abstraction, and scientific symbolism, the composition presents science itself as the engine of progress and the key to mastering the universe.

Dominating the image is the monumental face of a thinker—part scientist, part visionary—rendered in stark black and white. His intense gaze is directed upward and inward, suggesting calculation, foresight, and ideological certainty. Surrounding him are handwritten mathematical formulas, evoking theoretical physics, rocketry, and the invisible laws governing space and time. These equations visually anchor the idea that conquest of the cosmos begins in the human mind.

At left, a rocket ascends vertically, cutting through darkness in a blaze of light. A bold magenta diagonal slashes across the composition, injecting energy and movement while guiding the eye between intellect and technology. The restricted palette—black, white, red, and magenta—heightens contrast and drama, a hallmark of late Soviet modernist poster design.

The slogan, “We know – we will conquer space and time,” perfectly captures the ideological spirit of the mid-1960s: confidence in scientific inevitability, faith in human rationality, and the fusion of knowledge with political destiny. This was the era following Gagarin’s flight, when Soviet visual culture increasingly portrayed scientists and engineers as heroic figures equal to cosmonauts.

Stylistically, the poster reflects a mature phase of Soviet graphic design, moving away from Socialist Realist literalism toward a more symbolic, conceptual language influenced by constructivist heritage and modernist abstraction. The human face becomes a landscape of thought; mathematics becomes visual poetry.

Today, this work stands as a powerful artifact of Cold War visual culture. It appeals equally to collectors of Soviet posters, space-race ephemera, and modern graphic design, capturing a moment when science, ideology, and aesthetics were inseparably intertwined.

Original Poster

Space - Communism - USSR - Russia

Printed in Moscow

Good condition