Alexander Zhitomirsky

Alexander Zhitomirsky was born on January 11, 1907 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. He was one of the key artists who developed the art of the political photomontage and is named one of the greatest masters of the genre by the Soviet Encyclopedia (1997), alongside Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, and Gustav Klutsis. Zhitomirsky moved to Moscow in 1925, where he studied with I.I. Mashkov at the Assosciation of Artists of Revolutionary Russia until 1929 and continued his education in V.A. Favorsky's class until 1931. During that time he illustrated a number of magazines and created posters as well as personal work. In 1930 Zhitomirsky started working for the Rabochaya Gazeta [Workers' Newspaper] as a caricaturist and became the art director of both Industria Sotsializma [Socialist Industry] and Illustrirovannaya Gaseta [Illustrated Newspaper]. During WWII Zhitomirsky designed and illustrated publications for the front, including Front Illustrierte, a magazine specially targeted to German soldiers.

Beginning in 1950 through 1992, Zhitomirsky worked as the head art director of Soviet Union, a magazine published in more than 20 languages. In 1957, he met and became close friends with John Heartfield in Moscow. Throughout the Cold War period Zhitomirsky created powerful propaganda photomontages on peace, disarmament, captialist values, government leaders, and other themes dear to the Soviet regime. In 1967 he was named an Honorary Artist of the Russian Federation and in 1978 he received the title of People's Artist of Russia. Alexander Zhitomirsky died in Moscow in 1993.