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Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5311801
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Tell ya what I’m gonna do-ski...
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
35.5 x 29 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1959
Country
Language
Details
Original editorial cartoon on card in pencil, 1959, probably published in the New York Journal, shows Soviet leader Khrushchev selling wind-up toy cosmonauts, doves of peace, balloon satellites with ‘peaceful co-existence (my way)’ ‘propaganda’ ‘peaceski’ and hammer and sickle in the manner of a street salesman while American citizens look on. This refers to Khrushchev’s visit to the United States in September 1959, the first Soviet leader to do so. Khrushchev’s visit attracted immense media attention, and the American public saw the national bete noire, the nation’s biggest bogeyman, travelling around the country like a tourist. Khrushchev could come across like a character from a vaudeville act - short and squat, wearing a big grin. One of the balloons resembles ‘sputnik’, the first ever satellite launched into space by the Soviets in October 1957. Despite Khrushchev’s apparent jollity, the cartoonist sees the propaganda aspect of the tour, with Khrushchev emphasising the superiority of the Soviet system at every opportunity. Card size 35.5 x 29 cm, image size 23.5 x 21 cm, caption in pencil on upper border, printing instructions on lower border, signed lower left. Some staining in left border, otherwise in very good condition.