Izvestia and the Russian Academy of Arts opened an exhibition of anti-fascist cartoons

The official opening of the exhibition "Caricatures. Comics. The humor of the Fuhrer's personal enemy", dedicated to an anti-fascist cartoon from the Second World War (WWII). The project, prepared by Izvestia together with the Russian Academy of Arts, is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials and the 125th anniversary of the birth of one of the most influential masters of political satire of the 20th century, artist Boris Yefimov, who worked at Izvestia for about 85 years.

"This is a very important project for Izvestia, especially in a significant year when the whole country celebrates the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The history of Izvestia is inextricably linked with the history of the country. Correspondents, photographers and cartoonists of the newspaper entered the history of the Second World War. Memory preservation is our direct responsibility and daily job. Therefore, we are actively engaged in the restoration and replenishment of the large historical archive of Izvestia. The exhibition is a concrete result of these efforts," commented Vladimir Tyulin, General Director of Izvestia and REN TV.

The ceremony was attended by Vasily Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts, Sergey Koroteev, editor-in-chief of the Izvestia newspaper, Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Bezborodov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, specialist in the field of modern Russian history, Viktor Litovkin, military observer, screenwriter, writer, and representatives of Izvestia Holding.

"The project opens on the eve of an important date — the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Nuremberg trials, which Yefimov covered for Izvestia. But we are addressing not only history, but also today. Unfortunately, the topic of the fight against fascism sounds relevant again, and Efimov's cartoons are striking by how modern they read, how many direct parallels they evoke with current events," said Sergey Koroteev, editor—in-chief of the Izvestia newspaper.

"Thank you very much to Izvestia for such an important project, for remembering this outstanding artist. He was a man of fantastic energy, intelligence, humor, and at the same time brilliantly deep, very subtle," said Vasily Tsereteli, President of the Russian Academy of Arts.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted in her speech that the exhibition is of particular relevance.

"You can talk endlessly about Efimov, but in an amazing way he became a seer and a prophet. Most of his works are the answer to today's questions. And what a great blessing that we have an inventory of those times 85 years ago, both from the point of view of dry documents and chronicles of documentary films and photographs, and through the prism of the perception of the artist, who emphasized the urgency of the moment," said Maria Zakharova.

"The very presence of Boris Yefimov was already giving me goosebumps"

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The exhibition brought together unique archival materials from Izvestia devoted to the fight against fascism, a multimedia part, historical photographs and original works by Boris Yefimov, including previously unseen ones.

The drawings published in Izvestia were internationally renowned. Hitler demanded that Yefimov be found and hanged, including him in the list of his personal enemies. For his recognizable style, the author was nicknamed the sniper of Soviet caricature. During the Great Patriotic War, cartoons played a major role in strengthening morale: soldiers from the front wrote many letters of gratitude to the artist, reproduced Yefimov's works in front-line newspapers, and pasted them into homemade albums.

Large-scale exhibition "Cartoons. Comics. The Humor of the Fuhrer's Personal Enemy" is housed in three halls of the historic 18th-century building on Prechistenka Street and is open to the public from November 19 to December 14 at the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery in Moscow.

Earlier, the Izvestia News Center launched a special project.