This is one of a series of b/w postcard-sized linotypes depicting industrial and architectural landmarks, created by the artist in 1970, probably for a set of postcards. This one is perhaps the most depressive of them, depicting a phantasmagorical industrial landscape with huge black smoke stacks belching huge plumes of black smoke. A somber crowd of workers marches across the cobblestones with their heads down. The entire scene is dominated by an enormous monument resembling the innumerable monuments to Lenin all across the land of the workers' paradise. "Look what I have wrought!" say

This is one of a series of b/w postcard-sized linotypes depicting industrial and architectural landmarks, created by the artist in 1970, probably for a set of postcards. This one is perhaps the most depressive of them, depicting a phantasmagorical industrial landscape with huge black smoke stacks belching huge plumes of black smoke. A somber crowd of workers marches across the cobblestones with their heads down. The entire scene is dominated by an enormous monument resembling the innumerable monuments to Lenin all across the land of the workers' paradise. "Look what I have wrought!" says the statue's posture. Coincidentally or not, 1970 was the massively celebrated year of Lenin's centennial.

In excellent, outstanding condition. The image is pristine; the margins show minimal age-toning emphasizing the authenticity of this work of art. The artist's hand signature and year are clear and perfectly legible. The verso is unmarked and clean.

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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