The collection of the Kasimov Museum-Reserve contains a reproduction of a poster by Viktor Deni — one of the founders of poster art in Russia. The work is dedicated to the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922.

In the center of the poster, there is a Russian flag with the inscription “Beat workers and peasants”. In the foreground, Viktor Deni placed two participants of the White movement in the South of Russia — Vladimir Purishkevich and Anton Denikin. They fought against the Soviet government. 

Four figures in the background represented social strata that were associated with the old pre-revolutionary Russia: a Cossack, a priest, a kulak (rich peasant), and a gendarme.

The poster was a caricature; it ridiculed the main symbols of the Russian Empire: a portrait of Nicholas II with a crown on his head, the pre-revolutionary spelling of words on barrels, and a golden cross in the hands of a priest. The disproportionate faces of the heroes enhanced the comic effect.

The main feature of the poster was an attempt to combine artistic images with texts. At the bottom of the original “Denikin”s Gang’ poster, there was the inscription ‘Defend the Soviets! Defend your will, your power’, as well as the poem ‘Appeal to the Peasants’ by the poet Demyan Bedny:

Poster art appeared at the beginning of the 19th century: the first works in this genre were amateur print, which was created during the Patriotic War of 1812. Bright, simple in composition pictures with text depicted Russian soldiers as invincible Greek gods. 

By the end of the 19th century, the trade and advertising poster became popular in the Russian Empire. But the real heyday of this genre began during the October Revolution and the Civil War. Posters were used to spread communist ideas.