Alexander Georgievich Ksenita’s "Games of the XXII Olympiad - Moscow" (1979) stands as a significant example of Soviet Olympic art, created during a period of heightened international tensions leading up to the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This work was created amidst growing concerns about Cold War politics and the looming possibility of an Olympic boycott. The poster represents the Soviet Union's attempt to present itself as a peaceful, unifying force through sport, while simultaneously demonstrating its cultural sophistication to the international community. The timing of this work, just months before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, adds particular historical weight to its message of international unity and cooperation.
The composition centres on the official Moscow Olympics emblem, surrounded by four stylised hands in blue, yellow, red, and green, forming a circular pattern of unity. These hands, reaching toward the central Olympic logo, create a dynamic visual metaphor for international cooperation and peaceful competition. The inclusion of the Moscow Olympics logo, with its distinctive architectural lines reminiscent of Moscow's iconic buildings, draws the eye upward, while the star atop the emblem reinforces Soviet iconography. This arrangement cleverly combines Olympic ideals with subtle Soviet symbolism.
The poster employs a restricted but impactful colour palette, with the hands rendered in primary colours plus green against a stark white background. The tempera technique on card creates flat, bold areas of colour typical of Soviet poster design of the period. Ksenita's approach shows clear influence from the constructivist tradition while incorporating modernist sensibilities, particularly in the simplified, geometric treatment of forms. The deliberate use of clean lines and unmodulated colour fields demonstrates the continued influence of the Russian avant-garde on Soviet graphic design.
Ksenita, then a rising figure in Soviet graphic arts, created this work while at "Agitplakat Don" publishing house, where he was developing his distinctive style in political and social commentary posters. His formal training at the M.B. Grekov Rostov Art School and the Kharkov Art and Industrial Institute is evident in the poster's sophisticated fusion of traditional artistic principles with modern graphic design elements. This piece represents an important example of his early work, created five years before his well-known anti-fascist poster "We saved the world from the brown plague in a fierce battle!" (1984), and demonstrates his ability to combine political messaging with artistic innovation.
