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Voronov, Leonid Alexandrovich

Воронов, Леонид Александрович

Born 1899 (location unknown), Russian Empire; died 1938, State Prison, USSR

As a noted graphic artist and poster designer, Leonid Alexandrovich Voronov’s career was prolific but short-lived. During the 1920s, he contributed book illustrations for the Moscow publishing house Land and Factory. Beyond his book illustrations, Voronov chiefly worked as poster designer for the film industry. Reklamfilm, the State-run motion picture advertising entity and Sovkino, the State-run film studio, each employed him as a graphic artist. In his design work, he often collaborated with the graphic artist Mikhail Evstaf'ev. Together the pair produced a host of artistically important posters during the silent era of Soviet motion pictures. The pair also exhibited their work at the Second Exhibition of Cinema Posters in Moscow in 1926.

According to the art historian Dawn Ades; Leonid Voronov was nicknamed ‘the fireman’ by fellow artists due to his work speed, and of his craft; "[he] tended to work in a realistic vein, producing posters… overburdened with narrative detail.” During the 1935 Kremlin Affair (when employees of the Kremlin service administration were accused of organizing terrorist acts), Voronov was denounced as a fellow conspirator. He was arrested and, he reportedly died in prison in 1938.

Fuentes

Russian Posters. (2012). Auction catalogue of Mercer and Middlesex, LLC. New Jersey: Mercer and Middlesex, LLC. (mention of arrest and death)
Baburina, N. I. (2001). The silent film poster: Russia 1900-1930. Moscow: Art-Rodnik. (Voronov cited)
Milner, J. (1993). A dictionary of Russian and Soviet artists 1420-1970. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club. (bio, p. 458)
Ades, D., & Walker Art Center. (1984). The 20th-century poster: Design of the avant-garde. New York: Abbeville Press.
Arkad’ev, M.P.; & Bubnov, A.S. (1933). Khudozhniki RSFSR za XV let (1917-1932): Katalog vystavki. Moskva: Vsekokhudozhnik. (work of Evstaf'ev and Voronov cited)
tramvaiiskusstv.ru (Voronov bio)