Samuel Isaakovich Zisman's "The Tenth Five-Year Plan is of Enormous Scale and Great Economic Opportunities" (1980s) represents a significant artefact of late Soviet economic propaganda, created during a period of technological modernisation under Brezhnev's leadership. This surviving preparatory oil sketch from Agitplakat Dona offers rare insight into the Soviet poster design process, as such preliminary works were typically destroyed after production. The work directly quotes Brezhnev's assessment of the Tenth Five-Year Plan, positioning it within the Soviet Union's drive toward computerisation and industrial automation within the broader context of Soviet economic planning.
The composition masterfully integrates symbolic and technological elements, centred on an upward-gazing Soviet man. Above him, a computer punch card or data tape ribbon sweeps dramatically across the upper portion of the design, its perforated pattern creating a rhythmic visual element. The background architecture, rendered in simplified industrial forms, establishes depth while reinforcing the poster's themes of technological progress. This sophisticated arrangement creates a hierarchy of elements that draws the viewer's eye from the human figure through the technological symbolism to the quoted text.
The poster's restrained palette employs three primary colours to maximum effect: a warm golden ochre for the figure, cool industrial blues for the architectural elements, and pristine white for the punch card and text elements. This technical approach demonstrates Zisman's masterful understanding of colour psychology in propaganda design, with the contrast between warm and cool tones creating visual tension and energy. The loose, confident brushwork visible in this preparatory sketch reveals the artist's process while lending the piece a sense of dynamism and immediacy.
Samuel Isaakovich Zisman (1920-1986), a graduate of the M.B. Grekov Rostov Art School, established himself as a significant figure in Soviet propaganda art through his work at Agitplakat Don. His career, beginning with his first exhibitions in 1951, spanned multiple decades and addressed various themes in Soviet society, from industrial development to social criticism. His works are now preserved in numerous Russian institutions, including the Russian State Library and the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia.
