Mariscal S. Timoshenko. Sus triunfos son los nuestros
Date: 1942
Medium: Lithograph, printed as a poster
Dimensions (cm.): 43.4 x 35.5 (image); 46.8 x 68.0 (sheet)
Horizontal format with text: Mariscal S. Timoshenko sus triunfos son los nuestros (this entry)
Vertical format with text: Simeon Timoshenko. Field Marshal of the Red Army of the U.S.S.R.
Vertical format with text: Simeon Timoshenko. Mariscal de Campo del Ejército Rojo de la U.R.S.S.
Alternate titles: Unknown
Published edition: This poster, printed commercially on papel revolución. Number of impressions unknown.
Contemporary publication:
This poster. See published edition, above.
Revista Futuro no. 76, (junio 1942), p. 12 (portrait only, without letters)
References: Exposición en Homenaje 511, Prignitz 50a
Commentary: A Méndez lithograph from 1942, Mariscal S. Timoshenko, Sus triunfos son los nuestros (Field Marshall S. Timoshenko, His Triumphs Are Ours) features an almost photorealist technique in its portrayal of the same Soviet general as in Corrido de Stalingrado. Here Méndez adopted a Soviet socialist realist style to lionize the military hero, along with Timoshenko’s carefully composed, dignified face. The artist’s keen sense of design is evident in this print. Méndez’s appropriation of a socialist realist style for this portrait of the Soviet general, a non-Mexican hero, is a kind of homage to the Soviet people. Although it has not been determined why Méndez chose Timoshenko as his subject, The Corrido de Stalingrado, a depiction of Timoshenko as a general in the Battle of Stalingrad, reveals how important the Soviet participation in the fight against Germany was. At this time, after the German invasion of the Soviet Union and before the United States entered the war in Europe, many leftists relied on Stalin and the Soviet Union’s Red Army as the only bulwark against Hitler. The right side of this print showing only the portrait of Timoshenko was published in black and white in the journal Futuro, the organ of the Universidad Obrera, in June 1942, with the caption “Mariscal Simeón Timoshenko, héroe de la Unión Soviética, destructor de la Blitzkrieg” (“Marshall Simeón Timoshenko, hero of the Soviet Union, destroyer of the Blitzkrieg”). (Deborah Caplow)
Cataloging note: Méndez made three different lithograph portraits of Timoshenko. Variants 1 and 2 use one image, varying only in the text. The image in variant 3 differs in subtle ways. The image in variant 4 differs more substantially, notably showing shadows on the opposite side of the face.
Catalogue record number: 287