
In the Fight for Human Happiness, in Every Victory – Women's Participation!
Elena Mikhailovna Kurmanaevskaya & Alexey Mikhailovich Kurmanaevsky, 1980s

- Medium
- Oil/card
- Dimensions/
- 55 H x 35 W
- Country
- Russian SFSR
- Condition
- B | Fine - Minor signs of wear

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"In the Fight for Human Happiness, in Every Victory – Women's Participation!" (1980s) by Alexey Mikhailovich Kurmanaevsky and Elena Mikhailovna Kurmanaevskaya celebrates the role of women's in Soviet industrial development, specifically their contributions to the textile industry. This preparatory sketch for Agitplakat Dona reflects the Soviet Union's longstanding commitment to portraying women as essential contributors to industrial progress. The timing is particularly significant as it coincides with the textile industry's modernization efforts of the 1980s, when women comprised the majority of the workforce in this crucial sector.
The composition centres on a female textile worker, depicted with dignity and purpose, set against a backdrop of modern Soviet architecture. The woman, wearing a traditional pink headscarf and blue work clothing, manipulates threads that cross the composition diagonally, creating a dynamic visual metaphor for the weaving of socialist progress. The background's architectural elements form a semi-circular array of spires, towers, and industrial structures, suggesting the broader context of Soviet urban development that the textile industry supported. This arrangement cleverly connects individual labour to collective achievement.

The artwork's colour palette demonstrates remarkable restraint and sophistication, employing pink, blue, and golden yellow in a harmonious scheme that defies the typical bold reds and blacks of Soviet propaganda. Zisman's technique brilliantly merges constructivist influences with contemporary printing methods, using clean lines and overlapping colours to suggest both the mechanical precision of modern textile production and its artistic possibilities.
Alexey Mikhailovich Kurmanaevsky and Elena Mikhailovna Kurmanaevskaya are prominent Soviet Russian graphic artists and poster designers. Kurmanaevsky made extensive contributions to social and political poster design, while Kurmanaevskaya brought a bold visual style to environmental and social messaging. Their works are held in major collections, including the State Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve and the Rybinsk State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, Rostov Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Auschwitz Museum (Poland), the Museum of Modern Art of Kayani (Finland), and the Municipal Museum of Glasgow (Great Britain)

In the Fight for Human Happiness, in Every Victory – Women's Participation!
Elena Mikhailovna Kurmanaevskaya & Alexey Mikhailovich Kurmanaevsky, 1980s
- Medium
- Oil/card
- Dimensions/
- 55 H x 35 W
- Country
- Russian SFSR
- Condition
- B | Fine - Minor signs of wear