For almost as long as I have had a serious interest in the Soviet space program, I have been enjoying Soviet space art. In addition to providing a different perspective of the vision of space exploration, these paintings frequently provide depictions of events of the Soviet space program that do not exist in the photographic record of these flights.
About 30 years ago, a friend of mine living in Lithuania (then part of the USSR) sent me some post card collections of Soviet space art which I recently rediscovered while searching through my archives. The following paintings come from a card collection released in 1989 by Izobrazitelnoye Iskusstvo Publishers in Moscow entitled Star Way of Humanity. What follows are the paintings in this collection from Soviet artists with the original English language translations (and transliterations) of the descriptions included on the back of the cards.
“Orbiting Station ‘Apollo-Soyuz’” (1980) by Aleksey Leonov
The world’s first international complex immediately after docking of the “Soyuz” and “Apollo” spaceships over the Mediterranean in the area of Italy.
“Tribute to Yuri Gagarin” (1981) by Vladimir Janibekov
This work is the artist’s tribute to the man who paved the road to outer space.
“The Morning of the Take-Off” (1978) by Andrey Sokolov
The first picture to have been taken to outer space. It was dispatched to the “Salyut 6” orbiting station by the Soviet-Czechoslovak space crew (A. Gubarev, V. Remek) and brought back to Earth by the Soviet-Polish space crew (P. Klimuk, M. Giermaszewski) in 1978.
“’Phobos’ Probes Phobos” (1988) by Aleksey Leonov & Andrey Sokolov
The canvas depicts the laser probing of the Martian satellite Phobos by the international automatic space station “Phobos”.
“To New Orbits” (1986) by Boris Okorokov
Cosmonauts are bidding farewell to Earth before the lift-off.
“Overloads” (1986) by Pyotr Kovalyov & Olga Kovalyova
The transformations of a space-pilot’s face with the growth of overload.
“Remembrances in a Distant Journey” (1986) by Olga Grechina
A dialog between a man and a woman.
“A Sunny Day at Baikonur” (1986) by Alexander Petrov & Yelena Korennova
The launching site from which Yu. Gagarin made the world’s first flight to the stars.
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Articles about the Soviet crewed space program can be found on this page.
This look back at the aesthetics of space and technology is interesting especially given all the recent conversation about the Space-X suit design. Thanks for this, Drew!
That first art shown is a direct copy of Chesley Bonestell’s vision of the surface of Mercury. Just saying. Otherwise always great to see great art work.
The collection of space art, “Star Way of Humanity”, included pieces from both Soviet and American artists but I only shared the works from the former. It just happened that the cover of the art collection was Chesley Bonestell’s famous 1948 painting of the surface of Mercury.
That’s some really nice space art that you don’t see bandied about the Internet every day; I’m glad you shared these cards with us. I really like the title card with the painting of Mercury from Chesley Bonestell; it was a good choice. Of the ones from the Soviet artists, I especially like the one of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project; the blue tones and the details you get from orbit are brought across vividly without looking too unrealistic, and it makes the sky from orbit appear vast, which is nice. My favorite, though, is the painting of the Phobos probe. The probing, the visual of the signals bouncing off, and the very rocky and red vibe all make for an exotic-looking and action-packed visual.
Yes, I remember all these images. As a member of the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), we met with Alexei Leonov and Andrei Sokolov and the Union of Soviet Artists Cosmic Group in Iceland in 1988. We signed a five-year contract between ourselves (IAAA), the Cosmic Group, The Planetary Society, and the National Air and Space Museum to participate in each other’s painterly workshops. We also began in Moscow with the point USSR Cosmic Group and IAAA (USA, UK, Canada, and EU) artists exhibition, The StairWay to the Heaves. In Star City, we used their studios to paint while we all painted in preparation for the 1989 exhibition. Wonderful experience. I was the IAAA President at the time and it was my pleasure to be in the company of Leonov, Sokolov (The Dean of Soviet Space Art), and the rest of the Cosmic Group. We, the IAAA (iaaa.org) shall never forget that period of time.
–Kara Szathmary MSc FIAAA
IAAA CFO-Treasurer
Incredible collection i am also a Great admirer of soviet space history. Thanks for making this work