KUKRYNIKSY (ACTIVE 1924-1980S) The Second International, Political Caricature, 1925 ink and watercolor on paper laid on paperboard 39.5 x 35.5 cm (15 1/2 x 14 in.)
LOT NOTES: Kukryniksy is a combination of the names of three caricaturists, Mikhail KUpreyanov, Porfiri KRylov and NIKolai Sokolov, who had met at VKhutemas in the early 1920s, and began drawing caricatures under the joint signature as of 1924. The Kukyniksy became famous nationally and internationally in the 1930s, for their caricatures such as the present lot, relating to fascism and caricaturing figures such as Hitler, Mussolini, Himmler, Goebbels and Franco, which were published in satirical journals such as Krokodil and widely printed newspapers such as Pravda.
The Second International (1889–1916), the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated. It continued the work of the dissolved First International, though excluding the still-powerful anarcho-syndicalist movement and unions, and existed until 1916.