Briskin, Veniamin Markovich

Veniamin Briskin studied at the Kharkov Institute of Fine Arts from 1921 to 1925.  During his training, Briskin specialized in book illustration and poster design. Moving to Moscow in 1932, he worked for the satirical journal Krokodil  [Crocodile] until 1933. In 1934, he began his life-long tenure at the Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda [Komsomol Truth] and in 1956, he joined the artistic staff of the leading Soviet newspaper, Pravda [Truth], where he produced caricatures and illustrations. Briskin illustrated a myriad of books including, In America and My Universities by Maxim Gorky, as well as a compilation of short stories by Mark Twain.  During World War II, he contributed to the poster production of TASS Windows. Throughout the 1950s, Briskin created posters covering a variety of foreign policy-related themes including the Korean War, NATO and the United Nations, while also creating posters demonizing capitalist values. In 1956, Briskin co-founded Agit-plakat with Soviet poster artist, Konstantin Ivanov.  Agit-plakat posters were based on caricature and satire and they represented a post-Stalinist reincarnation of the ROSTA and TASS Windows collectives. In 1967, Briskin was awarded the title of an Honored Artist of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. His works were featured in 1970 at Moscow art exhibition "Satire in the Struggle for Peace".  At that exhibition, Briskin was awarded the Soviet Peace Fund Gold Medal.  In addition to his book, Opyt raboty nad agit-plakatom [The Experience of Working on Agitational posters] (1959), he authored a myriad of articles on Soviet poster production.