Vladimir Stenberg (1899–1982) and Georgii Stenberg (1900–1933) were Russian avant-garde Soviet artists and designers, best known for designing film posters for Sergei Eisenstein’s movies, Dziga Vertov’s documentaries and numerous imported films.
Movie posters in the 1920s by the Stenberg Brothers
The pair worked in a constructivist and, later, productivist styles, in a range of media, initially sculpture, subsequently theater design, architecture, and drafting. Their design work spanned clothing, shoes, and rail carriages, but they are most notable for their frequent use of film stills and their innovative approach to composition, which replaced traditional styles with non-narrative collage or assemblage.
“Ours are eye-catching posters,” Vladimir explained, “designed to shock. We deal with the material in a free manner . . . disregarding actual proportions . . . turning figures upside-down; in short, we employ everything that can make a busy passerby stop in their tracks.” The inventive results included a distortion of perspective, elements from Dada photomontage, creative cropping, an exaggerated scale, a sense of movement, and a dynamic use of color and typography, all of which “created a revolutionary new art form: the film poster.”
Here below is a set of amazing movie posters designed by the Stenberg Brothers in the 1920s.
The Eyes of Love, the Stenberg Brothers, 1923
Countess-Shirvanskaya’s Crime, the Stenberg Brothers, 1926
The Punch, the Stenberg Brothers, 1926
The Screw from Another Machine, the Stenberg Brothers, 1926
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