Pretty interesting exhibition these days at the Smith College Museum of Art: Godless Communists: Soviet Antireligious Propaganda.
Dmitri Moor – The Mystery of Christ c. 1920s

Following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, religious observance, “the opium of the people,� had to give way to the ideals of the Communist state. Between 1918 and 1939, the Soviet government engaged in an extensive anti-religious campaign which used posters, periodicals, photographs, films and event places such as museums of atheism to ridicule and disparage religions. The campaigns were supported by harsh legislation and brutal oppression of the clergy and religious laity, many of whom were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured, or killed.

Don’t miss the very informative website of the exhibition. There’s a few more images from the Anti Religious Posters from the Hoover Collection via Soviet history.

At the Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA, through February 11, 2007.

Via art daily.

Related: Soviet Photomontages 1917-1953; Soviet and Russian photography; Children’s Books of the Early Soviet Era; Soviet poster database.