Soviet poster by Sukhov & Stepanovich - Woman harvesting grain in yellow and blue, celebrating agriculture

More Bread for the Motherland

Sergey Yakovlevich Sukhov, Konstantin Feodoridi Stepanovich, 1964

Soviet poster by Sukhov & Stepanovich - Woman harvesting grain in yellow and blue, celebrating agriculture, framed in apartment with parquet floors and soft sunlight

Medium: Offset/paper
Dimensions /: 88 H x 54 W
Country: Kazakh SSR
Condition: A | Excellent - Minimal to no signs of wear

Soviet poster by Sukhov & Stepanovich - Woman harvesting grain in yellow and blue, celebrating agriculture, framed in a wooden frame on a white wall with soft sunlight

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"More Bread for the Motherland!" (1964) by Sergey Yakovlevich Sukhov and Feodoridi Stepanovich Konstantin emerged during Khrushchev's ambitious Virgin Lands Campaign in Central Asia. This Kazakh poster exemplifies the Soviet Union's drive to transform Kazakhstan's steppes into a major grain-producing region, addressing mounting concerns about agricultural production that threatened Khrushchev's domestic promises.

The composition employs a dramatic diagonal arrangement, with the female worker positioned atop a monumental mountain of grain set against modernist industrial architecture. The severe upward angle creates a powerful sense of scale, whilst the worker's dynamic stance, captured mid-action with shovel in hand, reinforces the poster's message of productive labour. Most striking is the sophisticated restraint in colour, employing a limited palette of sky blue, warm cream, and golden yellow, with the red Cyrillic text "РОДИНЕ БОЛЬШЕ ХЛЕБА!" emerging from the grain like a harvest rising from the earth. The architectural elements, rendered in simplified geometric forms, create a stark contrast with the organic mass of grain.

The poster's conceptual power lies in its synthesis of Socialist Realist heroism with modernist design principles. Through careful orchestration of scale and perspective, the artists transform agricultural labour into a monumental achievement. The worker's light clothing stands out dramatically against both sky and grain, drawing immediate attention to the human element whilst suggesting the bright future promised by agricultural modernisation. This interplay between individual labour and industrial progress reflects the broader propaganda goals of the Virgin Lands Campaign: presenting agricultural development as both a personal duty and a path to national glory.

Sergey Yakovlevich Sukhov (1911-2003) was a distinguished member of the Union of Artists of the USSR from 1946 and an Honoured Cultural Worker of the Kazakh SSR. After graduating from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1943, he relocated to Alma-Ata, where he worked at Kazakhfilm Studio. His artistic career spanned decades, producing significant works including "We Will Give the Country 800,000 Tons of Meat!" (1962) and "Portrait of Satpayev" (1989). Feodoridi Stepanovich Konstantin (b. 1947), known primarily for monumental sculpture, graduated from the Republican Art School named after Alimova in 1968. His major works include the "Friendship" stele (1978) and installations in December Park (1982-88). Their works are held in the State Museum of Arts of Kazakhstan and the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia.