Stenberg, Vladimir Avgustovich and Georgh Avgustovich

Stenberg, Vladimir Avgustovich and Georgh Avgustovich 

V. A. Stenberg, born Mar. 23 (Apr. 4), 1899, in Moscow. G. A. Stenberg, born Oct. 7 (20), 1900, in Moscow; died there Oct. 14,1933. Soviet graphic artists, display designers, and set designers.

The Stenberg brothers studied in Moscow at the Stroganov School of Industrial Arts from 1912 to 1917 and at the Free Art Studios from 1917 to 1920. In the first years of Soviet power they designed decorations for mass-scale celebrations. They were members of the Institute of Artistic Culture (Inkhuk) and the Society of Young Artists (Obmokhu).

As representatives of constructivism and production art, the Stenbergs strove to make display design an effective agitational tool and a means of educating the masses aesthetically (see DISPLAY DESIGN). They were among the originators of the Soviet film poster. Their posters corresponded with the dynamism and montage principle of film; reproductions of film sequences were combined with large planes of color and with bold printed letters.

The Stenbergs’ major works included sets for a production of Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera (1930, Moscow Kamernyi Theater), the interiors for the Moscow Palace of Culture of the Motor Vehicle Plant (1930), and holiday decorations for Red Square (1928–34).

V. A. Stenberg collaborated with L. A. Stenberg on designs for the decoration of the exhibition Our Achievements (1934); he also collaborated with S. V. Stenberg on the holiday decorations for Red Square in 1945 and from 1947 to 1962 and for the Moscow Institute for the Mechanization of Agriculture (1967).

V. A. Stenberg was awarded the Badge of Honor and various medals.