Friedrich, Alexander, Karl Radek (preface), and Petr Galadzhev, artist.

[GALADZHEV PHOTOMONTAGE] Gugo Stinnes: opyt politicheskoi kharakteristiki. Predislovie Karla Radeka. Perevod s nemetskogo V. i N. Aronovich [Hugo Stinnes: an attempt at political characterization. With a foreword by Karl Radek. Translated from German by V. and I. Aranovich].

Moscow–Berlin: Mezhrabpom, 1924. Octavo (17 × 11.5 cm). Original pictorial wrappers with a photomontage design by Petr Galadzhev; XXV, 117 pp. With one map. About very good; light wear to wrapper edges and spine extremities. Item #50967

Early Soviet fascination with Western industrialization is captured in the unattributed Constructivist wrapper design of this text about the German industrialist and politician Hugo Stinnes (1870-1924), the wealthiest man in Germany at the time. A portrait of Stinnes, "a steel baron" who made his fortune during WWI, is composed of a striking photomontage of steel mills, machine parts, and rail tracks by actor and graphic artist Petr Galadzhev (1900-1971). Galadzhev studied at VKhUTEMAS perior to embarking on his career as an actor and cinematographer, creating avant-garde set designs and photomontage works until the mid-1920s, after which he devoted himself entirely to the stage and the cinema. He was a prolific creator especially of photomontage miniatures published in various performance and cinema papers and periodicals, and much of his work remains to be discovered anew.
The international Communist leader Karl Radek (1885-1939) who knew Stinnes personally wrote an introduction to the text. Dubbed "the last internationalist," Radek was a proponent of close relations between Germany and the USSR. Initially a supporter of Trotsky, and part of the New Left opposition in the Soviet Union, he eventually fell victim to Stalinist purges, making this and his other writings scarce. Little is know of the author, Alexander Friedrich (possibly a pseudonym), who published one other book on the American industrialist Henry Ford.
As of February 2026, KVK and OCLC show two copies, one in Germany and one in North America.

Price: €1,500.00

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