Viktor Semenovich Ivanov attended Moscow Secondary Professional Art School from 1926 to 1929. In 1928, he took classes at a studio of Dmitrii Kardovskii the Russian artist, illustrator and stage designer, and from 1929 to 1933, Ivanov continued his education at the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture that was affiliated with the Russian Academy of Arts of Leningrad. In 1931, Viktor Ivanov began designing for the state publishing house Ogiz-Izogiz where he achieved acclaim as a prolific artist whose concentration ...

Iskusstvo was the Art Publishing House (A.K.A. Visual Arts Publishing) that was created in 1936 from Ogiz-Izogiz (State Art and Literature Publishing House). It disseminated books and journals dealing with graphic design and the fine arts, and it issued numerous posters. Since the Iskusstvo banner was part of the State Printing Works in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Moscow, its two main offices were located in those two cities.