From an upcoming release with Taschen Books: At the vivid intersection of cinematic and graphic design history, Film Posters of the Russian Avant-Garde gathers 250 film posters from the Soviet Union of the 1920s and early 1930s to explore a world of innovative, revolutionary aesthetics. Brimming with bold colors, dramatic angles, and eye-catching typography, these startling designs bear witness to the experimental avant-garde of those days, before Soviet Realism became the official art doctrine.

Drawn from the private collection of connoisseur Susan Pack, the selection includes the work of 27 different artists. From bold figuration to architectural elements, each artist displays a distinct style and aesthetic, as much as they collectively eschew the glamour of Hollywood for more stark, striking, even challenging images, often marked by unusual angles, dynamic compositions, and startling close-ups.

Susan Pack graduated from Princeton in 1973. For 10 years she worked in advertising, latterly as senior copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi in New York. She began collecting rare advertising posters in the 1970s, in due course acquiring one of the world’s foremost collections of avant-garde Russian film posters.