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Children’s book, почта (Die Post), 1933
Michail Cechanovskij
Children’s book, почта (Die Post),
Michail Cechanovskij,
*1057

Children’s book, почта (Die Post),
1933

Michail Cechanovskij
*1057
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Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Ausstellungsstrasse 60
8031 Zurich
Museum map
Museum für Gestaltung Zürich
Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 94
8031 Zurich
Pavillon Le Corbusier
Höschgasse 8
8008 Zürich
Museum map
  • почта (Die Post) Michail Cechanovskij Children’s book
  • почта (Die Post) Michail Cechanovskij Children’s book
  • почта (Die Post) Michail Cechanovskij Children’s book
  • почта (Die Post) Michail Cechanovskij Children’s book
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Listen to the text
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The children’s book Pochta (The Post) by Samuil Marshak (1887−1964), with illustrations by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky, also written as Michail Cechanovskij (1889−1965) is considered a masterpiece of Soviet avant-garde book design. The drawings strongly adhere to the aesthetic of Constructivist poster art and follow the rhythm of the children’s rhyme.

Who’s that knocking at my door?
His shoulder bag is big and fat.
His bag is stamped with Number 5.
And he’s wearing a dark-blue cap.
Is it him?It must be him!
The mailman from Leningrad!

These lines from the original poem Pochta are familiar to every Russian child. Their author, the poet and translator Samuil Marshak, is one of the most beloved children’s book authors in Russia to this day. The poem first appeared in 1927 as a children’s book with illustrations by Mikhail Tsekhanovsky and was an enormous success. This 1933 edition alone was printed in 75,000 copies. In 1930, Mikhail Tsekhanovsky created the animated film of the same name, which achieved cult status. Pochta shows us four mail carriers from four different nations who try to deliver a letter to the writer and globetrotter Boris Žitkov. It finally reaches him in Leningrad. The depiction of the settings—Leningrad, Berlin, London, and Brazil—as well as the images of the protagonists manifest the linear language of Constructivism, combined with a wealth of humor and imagination. The hurried, mustached postman from Leningrad; the sturdy, corpulent Berliner; the gaunt Londoner; and the lithe Brazilian are distinctly different from each other in both appearance and gait—yet they are connected by their work and their main attribute: the large mailbag. The glorification of speed and technology is clearly recognizable in the design: the letter “travels” around the world by rail, plane, and ship. The children’s book Pochta appears as a congenial synthesis between the music of poetry and the language of images. (Tatiana Arquint)

Kinderbuch, почта (Die Post), 1933
Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij
Text: Samuil Maršak
22.5 × 19.3 cm
Donation: Walter Roshardt
Eigentum. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK
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Literature

Julian Rothenstein, Schatzkammer der Revolution: russische Kinderbücher von 1920–1935, Zürich 2013.

Margit Rowell, The russian avantgarde book, 1910–1934, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2002.

Russische Bücher 1912–1935, Ausst.-Kat., Galerie Michael Pabst, München 1991.

http://www.s-marshak.ru

Image credits

Kinderbuch, почта (Die Post), 1933, Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij, Donation: Walter Roshardt
Abbildung: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kinderbuch, Doppelseite, почта (Die Post) – Der Leningrader Postbote unterwegs, 1933, Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij, Text: Samuil Maršak, Donation: Walter Roshardt
Abbildung. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kinderbuch, Doppelseite, почта (Die Post) – Der Berliner Postbote unterwegs, 1933, Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij, Text: Samuil Maršak, Donation: Walter Roshardt
Abbildung. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kinderbuch, Doppelseite, почта (Die Post) – Der brasilianische Postbote unterwegs, 1933, Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij, Text: Samuil Maršak, Donation: Walter Roshardt
Abbildung. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Kinderbuch, Doppelseite, почта (Die Post) – Der Briefempfänger: Schriftsteller Boris Žitkov, 1933, Illustration: Michail Cechanovskij, Text: Samuil Maršak, Donation: Walter Roshardt
Abbildung. Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / ZHdK

Exhibition text
Russian Children's Books

In the 1920s and 1930s, several prominent Russian avant-garde writers and artists devoted their talents to creating children’s books. Highlights include the bold Constructivist illustrations by Vladimir Lebedev (1891–1967) and Mikhail Tsekhanovsky (1889–1965) for Samuil Marshak’s poems The Circus and The Post, respectively, and the children’s books by Futurist poet and artist Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893–1930). These artists’ experiments with layout and imagery contributed significantly to the artistic quality of these books.