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https://www.collectrussia.com/DISPITEM.HTM?item=45852
Item# 45852   $85.00  Add to cart   Show All Images   Download PDF
Postcard with the image of the 2nd version of Lenin's Mausoleum, in wood, 1925-30.

The size is standard 5 ½" x 3 ½", postally unused and unmarked, printed on heavy-stock uncoated paper. Published by MEZHRABPOM, Russian acronym for International Workers' Aid, a political organization which was founded in 1921 in Berlin and then expanded its activity to Moscow. In essence, it was a communist propaganda machine with the mission of supporting workers' movements and cultural projects, predominantly in filmmaking. The artist's name and circulation are unknown.

The artwork is a drawing of Lenin's second mausoleum which was done in wood, just like the first version. The

The size is standard 5 ½" x 3 ½", postally unused and unmarked, printed on heavy-stock uncoated paper. Published by MEZHRABPOM, Russian acronym for International Workers' Aid, a political organization which was founded in 1921 in Berlin and then expanded its activity to Moscow. In essence, it was a communist propaganda machine with the mission of supporting workers' movements and cultural projects, predominantly in filmmaking. The artist's name and circulation are unknown.

The artwork is a drawing of Lenin's second mausoleum which was done in wood, just like the first version. The first mausoleum was erected immediately after Lenin's death. The task to design it was given to Aleksey Shchusev, one of the most prominent architects in late Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union, member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, four times winner of the Stalin Prize. Shchusev was up to the task of creating a majestic but laconic tomb, fit into the overall architectural style of the Red Square and able to provide access to Lenin's body to anyone wishing to see the great leader. Shchusev completed the project in just a few hours. The too-narrow staircase and small Mourning Hall created serious problems: viewer throughput capacity and temperature control. The temperature in the overcrowded hall rose to levels dangerous for preservation of the embalmed body. Shchusev made the second mausoleum larger and grander in style, but also in wood.

The second mausoleum was opened on 1 August 1924 and remained until 1929 but as early as January 1925 the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR announced a competition for the best project of Lenin's mausoleum in stone. Shchusev won the competition. Construction lasted sixteen months, and the new mausoleum was opened to the public in October 1930.

In excellent condition, showing only negligibly small corner bumps.
$85.00  Add to cart