Urbetis Konstantin Kazimirovich

Soviet graphic artist, film artist, cartoonist, poster artist. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Production designer of many famous films, author of political posters and magazine illustrations. Born in Siauliai, Lithuania. Since 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 with A. M. Vasnetsov. He studied at VKHUTEMAS-VKHUTEIN at the graphic department with N. N. Kupreyanov, A. D. Drevin and M. S. Rodionov (1925–1930). Adopted son of Dmitry Moor. I was strongly influenced by him in my work. He co-authored many of his posters: “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). Since 1930, he worked on anti-religious posters and satirical illustrations for various well-known magazines: “Atheist”, “Atheist at the Machine” and others. Author of a series of large-format anti-religious sheets “Poster-newspaper IZOGIZA” (Poster-newspaper IZOGIZA No. 41). He created posters for Gosizdat, the publishing houses “Moskovsky Rabochiy”, “Iskusstvo”, and later – “Soviet Artist”. Since 1936 he worked in cinema, first at the Odessa Film Studio, then in Moscow - Soyuzdetfilm and Mosfilm. 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. Fruitfully collaborated with the Mosfilm studio and the M. Gorky Film Studio. He acted as a production designer, costume and set designer in the best Soviet films of the 1940–1950s: “A Soldier Walked from the Front” (1939), “Heaven” (1940), “How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” (1941), “Zoya” (1944), “The Elephant and the String” (1946), “The Legend” about the land of Siberia" (1948), "Michurin" (1949), "Kuban Cossacks" (1949), "Donetsk miners" (1950), "Anna on the Neck" (1954), "An Incident in the Taiga" (1954), "The Cold Sea" (1955, together with S. Kozlovsky), "Quiet Don" (1957–1958), “The 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’s stupid to blame God,” No. 709 “The Way of a Parasite” (both – 1960), “Time, forward! Five-Year Plan 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). Posters by K. K. Urbetis are kept in the collections of the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg, in the Samara Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, the Togliatti Museum of Local Lore, and private collections in Russia and England.