Urbetis Konstantin Kazimirovich

Soviet graphic artist, film artist, cartoonist, poster artist. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Art director of many famous films, author of political posters and magazine illustrations. Born in Siauliai, Lithuania. From 1915 he lived in Moscow. In the early 1920s, he studied at the art studio of D. N. Kardovsky and at the Handicraft Industrial College under A. M. Vasnetsov. He studied at the VKhUTEMAS-VKhUTEIN at the graphic faculty with N. N. Kupreyanov, A. D. Drevin and M. S. Rodionov (1925–1930). Adopted son of Dmitry Moor. In his work, he was strongly influenced by him. He co-authored many of his posters with him: “Those who are trying to attack our country will receive a crushing rebuff!”, “In a new way! Mother, father, three children came out joyfully in the morning! (both –1936). Starting in 1930, he worked on anti-religious posters and satirical illustrations for various well-known magazines: "Godless", "Godless at the Machine" and others. Author of a series of large-format anti-religious sheets "Poster-newspaper Izogiz" (Poster-newspaper IZOGIZ No. 41). He created posters for the State Publishing House, the publishing houses Moskovsky Rabochiy, Art, and later the Soviet Artist. Since 1936, he worked in cinema, first at the Odessa Film Studio, then in Moscow - Soyuzdetfilm and Mosfilm. He participated as a production designer in the creation of the propaganda cartoon "Victory Route" (1939, together with P. Bazhenov). He made a significant contribution to the development of Soviet cinema. He fruitfully collaborated with the Mosfilm studio and the M. Gorky Film Studio. He acted as a production designer, costume designer and set designer in the best Soviet films of the 1940s–1950s: “A soldier was walking from the front” (1939), “Heaven” (1940), “How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” (1941 ), "Zoya" (1944), "The Elephant and the Rope" (1946), "The Legend of the Siberian Land" (1948), "Michurin" (1949), "Kuban Cossacks" (1949), "Donetsk Miners" (1950) , "Anna on the neck" (1954), "A case in the taiga" (1954), "Icy Sea" (1955, together with S. Kozlovsky), "Quiet Flows the Don" (1957-1958), "Mexican" (1957), "Friend" (1958), "Golden Echelon" (1959) and others. Since 1960, he worked in the Agitplakat workshop, drawing posters on political and social topics: No. 529 “It is stupid to blame God”, No. 709 “The way of a parasite” (both -1960), “Time, forward! Pyatiletka 1966-1970" (1966), No. 1119. "Soviet proposals for disarmament" (1962), No. 5017 "More high-quality steel!" (1981). In the 1960s, he made several posters on the theme of space exploration: “First to the Distant Worlds” (1967), “Time, Forward!” (1967). The posters of K. K. Urbetis are kept in the funds of the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg, in the Samara Regional Museum of Local History, the Togliatti Museum of Local Lore, private collections in Russia and England.