From Pin-Up to Paragon: Maksim Gorky’s Evolving Image on Russian Picture Postcards

By the end of the nineteenth century, picture postcards had become ubiquitous not only as an inexpensive means of communication but also as objects for collection. Literary postcards were especially popular in Russia, and the rapid proliferation of cards featuring portraits of contemporary writers helped feed celebrity culture, turning those images into sought-after commodities for consumption. At the same time, celebrating Russian cultural accomplishments through picture postcards also helped shape contemporary perspectives of nation and national identity. As a rising star on the literary scene at that time, Maksim Gorky quickly became an icon of contemporary Russian youth culture and, consequently, a popular subject for picture postcards. With his floppy hair and distinctive clothing, Gorky’s image itself demonstrated his difference from established traditional norms for the profession of “writer,” and his revolutionary leanings and unconventional life challenged the dominant mores of the time. In the Soviet period, as picture postcards continued to serve this function of shaping national identity and values, Gorky’s image was frequently used on state-issued postcards, both before and after his death, but this time in service to the state as the “father of Soviet literature” (and regardless of his uneven and at times ambivalent attitude toward that state). This paper examines the evolution in the use and function of Gorky’s images on pre-revolutionary and Soviet-era postcards. As an early icon of non-conformism and liberation, Gorky’s image ironically was co-opted by the Soviet regime to serve as a symbol of political orthodoxy and conformity.