A number of exhibitions are currently on display at the Block Museum and University Library on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus.
“Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons” provides a post-Cold War assessment of Soviet graphic arts with posters, cartoons, postcards, and photo montages from six decades. It will be on display at the Block through Dec. 4.
“Tango with Cows: Book Art of the Russian Avant-Garde, 1920-1917” chronicles the dramatic transformation of book art during the tumultuous years before the Russian Revolution, when visual artists and writers collaborated on hand-lithographed publications to convey intense ambivalence about their country’s past, present, and future. It will be on display at the Block through Dec. 11.
The following three exhibits are on display at the University Library:
“They Were Fighting for Our Freedom: American and Soviet Propaganda Posters of World War II” examines the portrayal of war themes, such as courage, strength in numbers, the home front, and heroic military traditions, in the different artistic languages of the United States and the Soviet Union.
In collaboration with the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography/Kunstkamera, St. Petersburg, this exhibit will be showing at the library through March 19.
“Papering Over Tough Times: Soviet Propaganda Posters of the 1930s” documents attempts by the Soviet government to inspire, placate, inform, and frighten its citizens during an era of social engineering. This exhibit, drawn from the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, will be on display at the library through June 15.
On a musical note, “Dmitri Shostakovich at Northwestern” recalls the composer’s visit to the campus in June, 1973, to receive an honorary degree. This exhibit, including rare Shostakovich scores published in the Soviet Union, will be on display at the library through March 19.
The Block Museum is at 40 Arts Circle Drive, near the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, and the University Library is nearby at 1970 Campus Drive. All exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, consult the Block Museum and University Library websites.