"The US Crisis" (1931) by Alexander Arnoldovich Zhitomirsky was created for the Soviet magazine ROST, issue №16 during the Great Depression. Through its biting critique of American financial collapse, this ink illustration embodies the USSR's broader ideological campaign to present socialism as the more stable economic system.

The composition centres on an ingeniously conceived mechanical metaphor: a vice dominates the frame, with the Russian word "КРИЗИС" (crisis) emblazoned across its circular top. Within this device, Zhitomirsky places a grotesquely caricatured figure of a capitalist, identifiable by his characteristic bowler hat and striped trousers. The figure's contorted face and flailing limbs create dynamic tension, while his anguished cry "ОТДАЙТЕ ДЕНЬГИ!" ("Give back the money!") cuts diagonally across the space. The artist's precise linework and stark contrasts draw from constructivist principles, whilst the inclusion of text and symbolic elements—notably the "USA" marking and American flag keyring which tightens the vice—demonstrates how Soviet artists like Zhitomirsky weaponised graphic design to both entertain and indoctrinate.

The work's conceptual power derives from its synthesis of modernist aesthetics and political satire. Zhitomirsky transforms the complex economic crisis into a immediately comprehensible metaphor of mechanical torture, suggesting capitalism's self-destructive nature. The vice becomes both trap and throne, with the capitalist figure simultaneously ruler and victim of his own system. Through careful manipulation of scale and space, the artist creates a sense of inevitable collapse, while the simplified, bold execution ensures the message reaches its intended audience with maximum impact. This marriage of artistic sophistication and propagandistic clarity exemplifies the era's most effective political art.

Alexander Arnoldovich Zhitomirsky (1907-1993) was one of the Soviet Union's most influential graphic artists. Following his training at the Rostov Art School and studies under Vladimir Favorsky at Vkhutemas, he developed a distinctive approach that merged modernist design principles with political messaging. A member of both the Union of Artists of the USSR and the Union of Journalists of the USSR, he was honoured as a Merited Artist of the RSFSR in 1967 and later as a People’s Artist of the RSFSR in 1978. Zhitomirsky’s first personal exhibition, “Down with the Warmongers!” was held in Moscow in 1952, followed by another significant exhibition, “United in Struggle,” in Berlin in 1961. In 1983, his book “The Art of Political Photomontage” was published by Plakat in Moscow. He was awarded 23 diplomas for the design of books and magazines. For a series of political posters, he was awarded the Prize of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and was awarded the medal “In Defense of Peace” by the USSR Peace Foundation. Today, his paintings and prints are held in the collections of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Library of Congress, Russian State Library, the Alexander Museum of Local History, Morshansky Historical and Art Museum, Novomoskovsk Historical and Art Museum, and the Rostov Regional Museum.