Measures 6" x 8 ¾", the image size is approx. 5" x 7". The title is inscribed in the artist's hand under the artwork on the left; his hand signature and years it took him to create this lithograph are under the image on the right. The signature he used to place inside his artwork, usually at bottom right, in the form of his initials НВ sharing the vertical line between them and the last two digits of the year, can be seen here. The year is not clear; as far as we could determine, it is probably "57".

This is one of Novichenko's early works. He started workin

Measures 6" x 8 ¾", the image size is approx. 5" x 7". The title is inscribed in the artist's hand under the artwork on the left; his hand signature and years it took him to create this lithograph are under the image on the right. The signature he used to place inside his artwork, usually at bottom right, in the form of his initials НВ sharing the vertical line between them and the last two digits of the year, can be seen here. The year is not clear; as far as we could determine, it is probably "57".

This is one of Novichenko's early works. He started working on it while still attending the Sverdlovsk School of Arts. While this lithograph adheres to the principles of Socialist Realism, Novichenko's original innovative view of it is beginning to be felt: even though Man is in the foreground, he is not the "hero" of the artwork. The Industry, the Machine is what is the focal point here. Novichenko was among the first to turn upside down the old ideologically worn-out approach of Socialist Realism to the theme of labor heroes where the hero's portrait dominated his tools of labor and the entire environment. Here we see the shifting of this traditional balance which will become prominent in his later works where the Machine dwarfs and dominates the Man.

In excellent condition. The image is pristine; the margins show just the right amount of light soiling and tiny stains to underscore that this is an original work of art. The verso is unmarked, showing traces of old glue at the corners where the lithograph used to be affixed to a backing.

Valentin Novichenko (Валентин Алексеевич Новиченко, 1927-2010) was a well-known master of graphic arts from the Urals. He was born into a working-class family. His childhood impressions of industry and the construction of the Orsk Metallurgical Kombinat (group of factories) deeply affected his art.

He participated in the Patriotic War and then graduated from the Sverdlovsk School of Arts, which he attended from 1956 to 1961. In 1966 he became a member of the Trade Union of Artists of the USSR and a permanent participant of all-Union exhibitions. From 1953 to 1963 he worked as a decorator at the Uralkhimmash and Uralmash, both of which were gigantic powerhouses of Soviet industry that played an extremely important role in the development of the industrial might of the Soviet Union as well as its defense during the Great Patriotic War. They also played a major role in the development of the city of Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) and the entire Urals Region.

After the death of the artist in 2010, a number of his exhibitions opened in his native Urals and in Moscow, and well-known collectors are now trying to acquire his works. As is evident from his correspondence with colleagues that is now kept in a private collection, Novichenko had a difficult personality. He never tried to sell his works to collectors or earn favors from the bureaucrats managing arts; he also refused to sell his painting to the managing committees of exhibitions on their terms. He was a tireless innovator, always in search of new materials and techniques, and this consumed his entire life. His lithographs on metal or so-called "poly-etching graphics" that employed various techniques and metal cutting instruments invented by him, make his art truly unique and of enduring value.

Please note that the pen in our photo is for size reference.
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