Sack the Saints-Sow the Seeds
The letter У from The Anti-Religious Alphabet
1932
14 7/8 x 10 5/8 in. (37.8 x 27 cm)
Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh
Russia
(Tomsk, Russia, 1890 - 1962, Moscow, USSR)
Full Title:The letter У from The Anti-Religious Alphabet
Object Type:
Print
Medium and Support:
Color lithograph
Credit Line:
Marion Stratton Gould Fund
Accession Number:
2001.20.18
Location: Not currently on view
Portfolio:
The Anti-Religious Alphabet
From a portfolio of 27 prints.
Russian peasants frequently planted their crops based on a belief in superstitions and the power of divine forces rather than scientific methods. This image juxtaposes the old way of farming with the new and technologically advanced. On the left, two saints identified by their halos as Nicholas and Elijah are watering wilted crops and swinging a censer used in church rituals. On the right, a full field of healthy wheat serves as a backdrop to a book with the words "Agrotechnology" and "Fertilizers." The drawing is of a Machine Tractor Station (MTC).