Original 1980 Soviet Olympic Poster – Relay Race – Japanese Artists – Kawadu, Matsumoto, Ishinosawa, Kishimoto

A rare and historically charged piece of Olympic graphic design, this original 1980 poster was published by Izdatelstvo Plakat (Plakat Publishing House), Moscow, as part of an international artistic competition held to produce official posters for the XXII Summer Olympiad. In a remarkable gesture of cultural openness for a Soviet-hosted event, the competition invited artists from around the world — and this poster was designed by a collective of four Japanese artists: Kawadu Hideo, Matsumoto Shigeo, Ishinosawa Harutomo, and Kishimoto Ken.

The image is kinetic and immediate: a motion-blurred relay baton exchange captures the raw speed and tension of the track in a style that owes as much to Japanese graphic modernism as to Soviet sports poster tradition. The result is a genuinely hybrid object — Soviet in its production and purpose, Japanese in its visual sensibility — and one of the more unusual artefacts to emerge from the Moscow Games.

The historical irony is impossible to ignore. Japan was among the countries that joined the US-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan — meaning the artists who designed this poster never saw their work displayed at the Games their own nation refused to attend. That tension between artistic collaboration and political rupture makes this poster a genuinely singular document of the Cold War sporting landscape.

Authenticity

100% Guaranteed Original Vintage Poster — not a modern reprint or reproduction.

Artists: Kawadu Hideo, Matsumoto Shigeo, Ishinosawa Harutomo, Kishimoto Ken (Japan)
Year: 1980
Publisher: Izdatelstvo Plakat (Plakat Publishing House), Moscow
Occasion: XXII Summer Olympic Games, Moscow
Origin: USSR (Soviet Union)
Size: 44 × 66 cm (17.3 × 26.0 in)
Medium: Offset lithograph on paper

Condition

Overall: Good to Very Good (Vintage Grade)

Wear: Visible creasing and buckling along the left edge, minor corner softening, light fraying along the right edge, and gentle surface crinkles consistent with the original Plakat paper stock.

Details: Colours and technical credits remain sharp. Reverse is clean.

This is an authentic vintage item. Please review the high-resolution photographs for a full and accurate representation. What you see is what you receive.

Shipping & Packaging

We handle historic paper with the utmost care to ensure it arrives immaculate.

Handling: Dispatched within 1–3 business days from our Sarajevo studio
Packaging: Rolled in acid-free tissue paper and shipped in a heavy-duty reinforced mailing tube — no folding, no creasing, no edge damage
Tracking: Fully tracked from our studio to your door
Standard delivery: Registered post (BH Pošta), arriving in 1–4 weeks
Express delivery: DHL Express available at checkout — delivery in 2–5 business days

International buyers are responsible for any applicable customs fees or import taxes.

Framing

Professional custom framing is available for this piece upon request. Contact us before checkout to discuss options and tailored pricing.

Want this design as a modern fine art print? View the framed reproduction here → or the unframed reproduction here →
Prefer an instant digital download? View the digital edition here →