Poster, Alphonse Mucha, Russia Restituenda, 1922

Alphonse Mucha Russia Restituenda vintage poster 1922 30.5 h x 18.5 w in (77 x 47 cm) Between 1918 and 1921, during the Russian Civil War, it was all against all. Bolsheviks, White Russians, Anarchists, and seceding nationalities had each provisioned their sides by seizing food from those who grew it, giving it to their armies and supporters, and denying it to their enemies.

Drought, then severe flooding in the Volga region, made matters worse. As late as 1921, Lenin refused outside aid as interference in Russian internal affairs. Mucha's 1922 poster, portraying a starving mother and her lifeless child, is adorned with two words: "Russia Restituenda," i.e. "Restore Russia" (to health). It was part of an international relief effort throughout Europe and the United States once Lenin relented in 1922. "Two wounded doves in the upper corners signify a Slavic nation that would die without aid, and the hearts in the lower corners express hope in human compassion" (Mucha/Art Nouveau, p. 181).

The aid, however helpful, was belated; an official Soviet publication concluded that about 5 million deaths occurred in 1921 from famine and related disease. Melantrich, Praha Literature: Rennert/Weill, 108; Lendl/Prague, p. 288; Mucha/Art Nouveau, 40; PAI-LXXXIV, 396 This work will ship from Los Angeles, California.