Motherland is calling!

"Motherland is calling!" - the famous poster of the Great Patriotic War , created by the artist Irakli Toidze in 1941 , probably at the end of June. The exact date of creation is unknown and is the subject of debate.

Irakli Moiseevich Toidze

Motherland is calling! 1941

lithography

Coin of the Bank of Russia - Series: "The Great Patriotic War", 50 years of the Great Victory

By his own admission, the idea of ​​creating a collective image of a mother calling for the help of her sons came to his mind quite by accident. Hearing the first report of the Sovinformburo about Nazi Germany’s attack on the USSR, Toidze’s wife ran into his workshop shouting “War!” Struck by the expression on her face, the artist ordered his wife to freeze and immediately set about sketching a future masterpiece ^[1] .

The image of the Motherland is obviously connected with the image of Mother Russia , which was widely used during the First World War and the Civil War for propaganda.

According to the memoirs of the son of Toidze, the artist loved the work of Andrei Bely , who has the lines: “Let me, oh mother country, sob in the damp, empty expanse, in your expanse ...” Perhaps they served as the basis for the content of the poster ^[2] .

The image of "Motherland" later became one of the most common images of Soviet propaganda. Numerous interpretations of the image and parodies of this poster are known in the visual arts, sculpture, folk art, and advertising.

The poster’s artistic composition is akin to works such as the Soviet poster “ Have you volunteered? ”( Dmitry Moor , 1920), the American poster“ I want you for the US Army ”( James Flagg , 1917), as well as the French painting“ Freedom Leading the People ”( Eugene Delacroix , 1830), where the author depicted the national symbol of France - Marianne .