Govoiarov, K.

[RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE] Adventures of a Cossack in Germany. Complete Set of 12 Russian WWI Lubok Postcards

Item #1454

Complete set of 12 chromolithographic postcards, illustrated by K. Govoiarov (Govoyarov). Moscow: V.N. Shushukin for the Charitable Society for the Orphans of Victims Fallen While Doing Their Duty, 1914. The verso of each card bears postal designations and the printed notice forbidding resale above the fixed price of 0.5 kopecks.

A striking lubok-style narrative series issued at the start of World War I to raise funds for children orphaned by the war. Printed in vivid chromolithography, each card features a patriotic and humorous verse in pre-revolutionary Russian orthography, chronicling the feats of a bold Russian Cossack battling German and Austrian foes.

Combining traditional folk visual language with the bold forms and dynamic compositions that presaged Russian avant-garde design, these cards stand at the intersection of wartime propaganda and emerging modernist aesthetics. Their vivid palette and expressive figuration echo the visual experiments that would soon dominate Russian Futurism and agit-lubok art.

A complete set in such condition is scarce and not held by any major Western museum or library collections focused on Russian avant-garde or WWI ephemera.

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