Russia's Last Cinema Poster Artist Resigns Due to Illness
Vasily Chebotarev, one of the last masters of handwritten movie posters, left work due to health reasons without training a successor.
Apr 24, 2026 0
His retro-style posters were more popular than modern glossy movie posters.
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Vasily Chebotarev, considered one of the last artists in the country to create cinema posters by hand, left the Druzhba Culture and Leisure Center in Kamyshin, Volgograd Region.
Chebotarev was convinced any professional artist could create similar movie posters.
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The institution«s director, Nadezhda Veligodskaya, explained that the reason for his resignation was health problems, not financial difficulties, as some had assumed.
He had to depict popular actors on his posters almost every month.
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«Everything that is being written about us firing him because there is no money for paint is nonsense. He retired because he is ill. Due to his age, he has joint problems. He was on sick leave all of December, and after the holidays he came and wrote his resignation letter,» Veligodskaya said.
According to her, Chebotarev recently underwent surgery and is already feeling better. The question of his possible return to work remains open. There are no candidates for the vacant position yet, and the posters he created still adorn the center«s hall.
«Any creative person understands that if they come to us, they will be compared to Vasily Yevgenyevich. But I can»t take someone and force them to draw a parody of Vasily, can I? So we don«t plan to hire anyone for now,» the director added.
Chebotarev spent six years creating posters for new films in the style of Soviet movie posters from the 1980s. In addition, he participated in painting many walls and interiors in Kamyshin.
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