SERGEI CHEKHONIN (1878-1936) ‘Workers of the world, unite!’, design for a plate

signed in Cyrillic and dated ‘Sergei Chekhonin 1927’ (lower center); largely inscribed in pencil, ownership stamp of Igor Dichenko collection (on the reverse) ink and pochoir on paper 14.3 x 10.8 cm Executed in 1927 PROVENANCE: Collection of Igor Dichenko (Ihor Dychenko) (1946– 2015), Soviet and Ukrainian collector, art historian, and painter; one of the ideologists of the Ukrainian avant-garde, Kyiv. Private collection, Europe. Sergei Chekhonin was a Russian graphic artist, illustrator, ceramic designer and theatre artist. A pupil of Ilya Repin, he was closely associated with the Russian avant-garde and the revolutionary art of the 1920s. From 1918, he worked extensively as a designer for the State Porcelain Factory in Petrograd, creating celebrated porcelain designs featuring revolutionary slogans and Constructivist-inspired compositions. He also worked in book illustration, posters and typography. From 1928, he lived and worked mainly in France, where he continued his artistic career.