This dynamic work is an original gouache design for a Soviet propaganda poster, created at the dawn of one of the USSR’s major postwar industrial campaigns: the construction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station on the Dnieper River. Rather than a printed poster, this piece is a hand-painted project artwork, produced as a visual proposal to be submitted to a state publisher or propaganda committee.
The composition embodies the ideals of Socialist Realism, presenting the worker as a confident, optimistic hero of progress. Smiling and powerfully built, he grips an oversized wrench while standing beside a massive pipeline, a symbol of technological mastery and collective effort. In the background, factories and shipping activity reinforce the theme of national reconstruction and industrial momentum.
The slogan draws a direct ideological line between two monumental Soviet projects: the earlier Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (DniproHES)—a flagship achievement of the first Five-Year Plans—and the new Kakhovka dam. By linking past triumphs with future ambition, the image functions as both celebration and mobilization tool.
The painterly quality of the gouache, with visible brushwork and nuanced color transitions, distinguishes this work from mass-produced lithographic posters. As a preliminary design, it offers a rare glimpse into the creative process behind Soviet visual propaganda, where artists combined fine-art technique with political messaging.
Dated stylistically and historically to the early 1950s, this project corresponds with the launch of construction on the Kakhovka dam (1950). It stands as a compelling artifact of postwar Soviet optimism, industrial myth-making, and the central role of art in shaping public ideology.
Gouache
Industry - Communism - USSR - Ukraine
Good condition, some soiling, small tears
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