An exhibition of postcards dedicated to film stars of the 1950s-1980s is being held in Vitebsk, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Museum of the History of Private Collections.
An exhibition of postcards dedicated to film stars of the 1950s-1980s is being held in Vitebsk, as reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Museum of the History of Private Collections.
The exhibition, from the private collection of Svetlana Shalaeva, opens on September 26. It features postcards from the 1950s-1980s with images of famous Soviet and foreign film actors – idols beloved by more than one generation: the charming Andrei Mironov, the inimitable Vyacheslav Tikhonov, the young Anastasia Vertinskaya, the beautiful Tatyana Samoilova, the universally loved Shurik (aka Alexander Demyanenko), and many others.
"Like all girls of my time, I collected sweet wrappers and greeting cards. When I turned 10, my mother suggested collecting something more serious, like photos of actors. She was interested in it herself. And in 1968, the first photo cards appeared in our home," recalls the collector. The hobby has lasted a lifetime. Svetlana Shalaeva's collection now comprises about 800 postcards.
According to museum staff, in Soviet times, postcards with photos of actors were issued by branches of the All-Union Bureau for the Promotion of Cinematography in Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi, Minsk, Chisinau, Riga, and other cities. Actors were "sold" everywhere: in newsstands and bookstores. You could buy cards in sets and individual copies of large and small formats. The reverse side almost always contained a brief textual reference to the actor (what they graduated from, what films they starred in, etc.). In the 70s-80s, photos appeared where the actor was depicted in character, in costume and makeup. The postcards capture scenes from such popular and beloved films as Vladimir Menshov's "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears," Gennady Kazansky's "The Snow Queen," Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris," and "The Brothers Karamazov" starring the legendary Mikhail Ulyanov.
The exhibition can be visited until November 4.