Chudov, Iurii Nikolaevich

Iurii Nikolaevich Chudov was a Soviet graphic artist and a cartoonist. He lived and worked chiefly in Moscow for the bulk of his career.  In 1950, Chudov graduated from the Moscow Higher Art and Industrial School.  While still a student, he created a label for the port wine “777”, a popular spirit made in Kuban, Russia. Chudov began exhibiting his work professionally in 1951.

Some of Chudov’s poster titles include: “Do speed skating!” (1952); “Preserve the holy honor and military glory of Soviet artillery!” (1952); “Warrior, be vigilant! Vigilance is, first, a high and constant combat readiness!” (1955, with artists Dutov and Kruchina); “Glory to the conquerors of virgin lands! Soviet people are a heroic people!” (1957)’  “Don’t talk, strictly retain military and state secrets!” (1958); “The Motherland needs an excellent soldier - a skillful, intelligent, brave warrior…”. (1959); “We remain at our post!” (1961), and others.  Perhaps his most recognized design is from 1951 for the poster, “And we will be pilots!”, a work depicting two post-war era Soviet boys (presumably brothers) contemplating a future career as pilots while playing with a hand-made model airplane.

For a portion of his life, Iurii Chudov worked as a designer for the publishing house Iskusstvo (Art). He also created posters on military information, defense instruction and army education, all commissioned by the USSR Ministry of Defense.