The American Ambulance in Russia, World War I, A. Maksimov

Exhibition Label:
"Machine in a Void: World War I & the Graphic Arts," Mar-2010, Steve Goddard
The mass-produced poster was a new medium for Russia, which copied from Western countries the use of posters to promote subscriptions to war loans. On a stylistic level, war posters were conservative, drawing upon traditional styles of “lubok” popular prints, realistic painting, and national heraldry to appeal to the romantic ideal of a great common past. This poster shows a medieval knight riding in front of the double-headed eagle flag of Russia, while the text in Russian promotes the sale of war bonds. This revival of traditional heroes and the display of national symbols was common in Russian war posters, with most of the images only loosely connected to the actual loan drive. This illustration first appeared advertising war bonds in 1916, but many of these Russian posters were later repurposed to promote the American Ambulance in Russia volunteer corps by gluing additional English texts to the top and bottom of the original poster.

Little is known about the artist, but he may be one of two men, both of whom were named Aleksei Maksimov. One was a graphic artist who designed lithographic posters for war loans during World War I and was a member of the Kuindzhi Society of Artists in Leningrad in 1929. The other was a painter, draftsman, and printmaker who also contributed images to Russian periodicals.