Odessa Travel Poster: Soviet Era, Art Deco Style

Odessa is a striking vintage travel poster by an anonymous Soviet-era designer, created to promote the Black Sea port city during the early to mid-20th century. Rendered in the bold, streamlined language of Soviet propaganda art, it captures Odessa’s maritime allure while projecting the optimism and pride of the period. The sweeping red flag, the hammer and sickle, and the assertive ODESSA typography come together to evoke a dynamic coastal destination within the Soviet Union’s cultural orbit—today recognized as Odessa, Ukraine.

This listing offers a meticulously produced fine art print of Odessa, available on acid-free archival paper or on richly textured artist’s cotton canvas. The Unique Maps Co. prints with museum-quality inks for crisp lines and long-lasting color. Choose from a range of sizes with optional framing, matting, and personalized captions—perfect for commemorating a trip date, a honeymoon, or a special memory by the sea. Custom sizing and design tweaks are also available upon request.

About the artist: While the original designer’s name is lost to history, the poster reflects the collective craft of Soviet graphic studios, where illustrators, typographers, and layout artists worked in concert to produce clear, persuasive visuals. These designers mastered simplified forms, geometric structures, and purposeful color blocks, creating posters that were instantly legible from a distance and memorable up close.

Why this subject matters: Odessa has long stood at the crossroads of commerce and culture on the Black Sea. In the era when this poster was made, the city was celebrated for its port, seaside promenades, and resort atmosphere. Posters like this didn’t just advertise a place to visit; they helped shape a modern identity for Odessa—cosmopolitan, sunlit, and forward-looking—while aligning with broader efforts to build tourism and domestic pride across the Soviet Union.

Design and color: The palette centers on warm beige, maritime blues, and emphatic reds—the last symbolically tied to the Communist Party and here expressed in a sweeping flag that drives the composition. Flat, unmodulated color fields and clean, structured forms ensure instant impact. The monumental ODESSA logotype anchors the scene, while the coastal setting is distilled to essential shapes, giving the work a timeless, architectural quality. The result is both a piece of graphic history and a fresh, modern accent—ideal for rooms with mid-century, industrial, or contemporary decor where a statement of color and form is welcome.

This Odessa print makes a thoughtful gift for travelers, history buffs, and design lovers alike—perfect for Christmas, housewarmings, anniversaries, Father’s or Mother’s Day, or as a meaningful keepsake for anyone who has recently explored the Black Sea coast.

If you're not sure what size to order, or you're looking for a custom order of some kind – a different size, a different colour, a special frame – then please contact me. I usually respond within a few minutes.

You can see an example of my fine art personalisation service in the fifth image. Zoom in and take a look. My personalised artwork is always very well received. Take a look at more examples of personalisation.

You can also choose to age your art print to make it look older. This is popular amongst my customers who want their artwork to look like an older, antique print. You can see an example of ageing in the sixth product image, or go ahead and check out lots of examples of other aged artwork.

The model in the listing images is holding the 24x36in (60x90cm) version of this art print.

I can print and frame this beautiful piece of art at sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). If you are looking for a size or framing option that isn't available online, please get in touch.

This artwork is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. My standard frames come in six colours (black, dark brown, dark grey, antique gold, oak and white), and custom framing is available for an additional charge. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.