I took "Flint" with illustrations to my grandchildren Yerko , and brought it back. It seems that real art is done by children's illustrators, but "artists" are idiots for whom society has found something to do where they can do the least harm.

In Real Art, that is, children's illustration, a major event occurred. In the late 1980s, Gennady Spirin left for the USA and became Best of the Best there. He still lives in Princeton, with his family, without learning a word of English. It’s a blessing not to understand what they’re saying.

Well, in the late 1980s we had perestroika. And there was even football.

But the time has come for Ukraine - and now there is football there, and Number One. Vladislav Erko. That is, the king has changed.

Why didn't I part with Ogniv? Take a closer look:

(clickable)

This is basically the back of the cover. There are a dozen cats, dogs, horses, birds and fifty people in the picture, but take an interest in the houses. At the top in the right corner is a tower with a figured roof, with a vase on top. There is only one like it in the world, but this is not a repetition, but a development of that architectural concept.

I wouldn't be interested in Yerko. Here is a fragment of my drawing:

The façade ends with a “trumpeting triton” with two serpentine legs. There is a similar detail on Yerko's "Flint" under the word "Erko" - St. Michael slaying Satan.

Someone will say: what kind of artist is Yerko? This is the architect. No! He is an artist in the sense of art that existed before Mannerism. Those artists were interested in the world itself, and it was ignorant of “how” - but today’s Picasse is only interested in the shadow that they cast on this world.

This is page 5 of the book, a soldier is walking along the road. Like Bruegel? No. Neither Bruegel, nor de Momper, nor Leytens knew such rocks and branches. This is further. Yerko picked up where they left off. In fact, today Bruegel would have to be called a children's illustrator. But children have nothing to do with it. Just art.

And now let’s see how figures of “true” art also “paint” Flint:

Joel Stewart

How I hated such drawings in my books as a child! I remember it very well.

Spirina soon 70.

Olga and Andrey Dugin everything is also taught in Munich. I hope that nothing happened to them, and someday Dugin will still finish Hamlet.

In general, the celebrity workshop has aged noticeably. Robert Ingpen ...

(to "Tom Sawyer", obviously)

(to "Mowgli")

It is interesting to compare Ingpen's "Pinocchio" with Yerko. Ingpen is a realist, everything is found and copied, unlike Vladislav, who strives to discover something new in the world. Yerko is interesting to me, Ingpen is not. The illustrations for Tom Sawyer are too natural, I would say. Too heavy for Mark Twain's light tongue.

Nice drawing, but again the children have nothing to do with it.

The illustrator has aged Sandy Nightingall , Terry Pratchett’s interpretation of which is even immortalized in the stamp:

I will note that I never liked Pratchett’s illustrations because they were colorful. Here she is just a “children’s” artist, only Pratchett is not exactly a children’s reader.

Yvonne Gilbert has aged...

Ivonne Gilbert

If the last picture is the Princess and the Pea, It is an exceptionally brave princess. I definitely wouldn't sleep here because of the altitude.

What about the youth?

John Vernon Lord . Kill yourself if the book is not from the 1930s! But no, a thin fake - 2013. So what, do children appreciate this subtlety?

Illustrations Levy Pinfold definitely have a metaphysically dark undertone. His world is unfriendly:

(Clickable)

Actually, before Juan Wijngaard he is far away. Here's who to scare children:

To lighten the mood, I brought in a random picture about Viking gods from Devianart.

Rhineville

It would seem that there is a sea of ​​children's artists, and it is impossible to embrace the immensity. But the vast majority of them are bright, colorful, and... empty. Not very informative. Let's take another Alice...

Justin Todd

What would I have learned from it when I was 10 years old? Why does the girl have pants that look like gears? But in my 60-year-old Justin Todd I am much more attracted, especially by drawing what is more appropriate for her:

Exactly the same works Lisbeth Zwerger beautiful with their purity and freshness of color...

But at 10 years old I wouldn’t have even looked at them.

He released an excellent series of books (“The Biggest Nasties of the Sea”) Kellie Strom . The man knows what a modern child needs. Nothing other than the “o” in the surname crossed out obliquely:

His drawings are really what you need. They are bright, informative, and at the same time simplified.

Fortunately, I am spared the need to mention a thousand more artists here. It is in children's illustration that everyone is terribly concerned about copyrights, and everyone (for example - Maggie Knee) with dire warnings I omitted. Let's move on to the joyful stuff. To those who draw so well that they don’t knock down their rights. Nobody can do that anyway.

These are two girly artists. Inga Moore :

You know, for a long time I was looking for a large painting for the wall. The second Inga Moore is just that.

She achieved special heights in girlhood. IMHO, Angela Barrett :

And to round off the period, as Cyrano de Bergerac put it, j, I will turn to a new rising star - Bagram Ibatoulline , who studied, as you guess, in Moscow, but lives, as you understand, in Pennsylvania:

(Snow Queen, there was such a moment!)

And to the Bulgarian artist Jan (Jassen) Ghiuselev, widely known for his gothic "Alice".

But they say his best illustrations are for “The Queen of Spades”:

In my opinion, there is no better illustrator of fairy tales than V. M. Vasnetsov, well, perhaps I. Bilibin. The next page is about him.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926) is one of the first Russian artists who pushed the boundaries of conventional genres and showed a fairy-tale world, illuminated by the poetic imagination of the people. Vasnetsov was one of the first Russian artists to turn to recreating images of folk tales and epics in painting. His fate developed as if he was destined in advance to be the singer of a Russian fairy tale.

He spent his childhood in the harsh, picturesque Vyatka region. The talkative cook, who tells children fairy tales and stories of wandering people who have seen a lot in their lifetime, according to the artist himself, “made me fall in love with the past and present of my people for the rest of my life, and largely determined my path.” Already at the beginning of his work, he created a number of illustrations for “The Little Humpbacked Horse” and “The Firebird”. In addition to fairy tales, he has works dedicated to the heroic images of epics. "The Knight at the Crossroads", "Three Heroes". The famous painting “Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf” was written based on the plot of one of the most famous and widespread fairy tales, reproduced in popular prints of the 18th century.

"Princess Nesmeyana"

There are merchants, boyars, foreign guests, storytellers, musicians, dancers, jesters and buffoons. They sing, clown around, laugh, strum the harp to their heart's content. And at the foot of the high tower there are ordinary people, also crowding, laughing, shouting. And all this buffoonery is for the princess, the only royal daughter. She sits sadly on a carved white throne by the window. “There is a lot of everything, there is everything that the soul wants; but she never smiled, never laughed, as if her heart was not happy about anything.” And, to be honest, what is there to be happy about if no one ever has a heart-to-heart talk with her, no one with a pure heart will approach her?! Everyone around is just making noise, aiming for suitors, trying to present themselves in the best light, but no one cares about the princess herself. That is why she is not laughing, until the one and only one, the long-awaited one, comes, who will give her a smile instead of buffoonery, warmth instead of indifference. And he will come, for sure, because that’s what the fairy tale says.

"Koschei the Immortal and the Beloved Beauty"

As soon as he managed to leave the yard, Koschey entered the yard: “Ah! - speaks. - It smells like Russian braid; I know you had Ivan Tsarevich.” - “What are you, Koschey the Immortal! Where can I see Ivan Tsarevich? He remained in dense forests, in sticky mud, and is still eaten by animals!” They began to have dinner; at dinner, the Beloved Beauty asks: “Tell me, Koschey the Immortal: where is your death?” - “What do you need, stupid woman? My death is tied up in a broom.”

Early in the morning Koschey leaves for the war. Ivan Tsarevich came to the Beloved Beauty, took that broom and brightly gilded it with pure gold. As soon as the prince had time to leave, Koschey entered the courtyard: “Ah! - speaks. - It smells like Russian braid; I know you had Ivan Tsarevich.” - “What are you, Koschey the Immortal! You flew around Rus' yourself, picked up the Russian spirit - you smell of the Russian spirit. Where can I see Ivan Tsarevich?

He remained in dense forests, in sticky mud, and is still eaten by animals!” It's time for dinner; Beloved Beauty herself sat down on a chair, and sat him on a bench; he looked under the threshold - there was a gilded broom. "What's this?" - “Ah, Koschey the Immortal! You see for yourself how much I honor you; If you are dear to me, so is your death.” - “Stupid woman! I was joking, my death is sealed up in the oak meadow over there.”

"Princess Frog" Look at the reproduction of V. Vasnetsov’s painting “Feast”.
(p. 19 of the textbook)
Bilibin's illustrations framed by floral patterns very accurately reflect the content of the fairy tale. We can see the details of the heroes’ costumes, the expressions on the faces of the surprised boyars, and even the pattern on the kokoshniks of the daughters-in-law. Vasnetsov in his picture does not dwell on the details, but perfectly conveys the movement of Vasilisa, the enthusiasm of the musicians, who seem to be stamping their feet to the beat of a dance song. We can guess that the music to which Vasilisa dances is cheerful and mischievous. When you look at this picture you feel the character of a fairy tale.
- Why do people call Vasilisa the Wise? What qualities do the people glorify in the image of Vasilisa?

The painting by V. Vasnetsov creates a generalized image of a beautiful princess: next to her are guslars and people. I. Bilibin’s illustration specifically depicts an episode of the feast: in the center is Vasilisa the Wise, at the wave of whose hand miracles occur; There are people around, amazed by what is happening. There are different types of work possible here:

1. Describe verbally what you see in each of the paintings (characters, setting, appearance of the people around, their mood, prevailing colors).

2. Compare the image of Vasilisa the Wise by Vasnetsov and Bilibin. Is this how you imagine the main character of a fairy tale?

"Carpet plane"

The imagination of the people created a fairy tale about a flying carpet. You see two paintings by Vasnetsov with this name - early and late. In the first of them, a proud young man looks from a flying carpet at the expanses of Russian land spreading below. The discreet northern nature served as the artist’s backdrop for the painting. Rivers and lakes sparkle, the forest stands like a dark wall, and huge birds accompany the carpet. The Firebird caught by the hero burns with a bright fire in a cage. This painting tells about the wisdom, strength, and dexterity of the people. The second picture is lighter and more colorful. The bright rays of the sunset, cutting through the veil of clouds, became a successful background to the picture. Nature through the clouds is seen as bright, lush greenery, perhaps because the heroes descended closer to it. And the girl and the boy in sparkling clothes embroidered with gold do not seem like strangers on the canvas. Their young faces are beautiful, they gently leaned towards each other, personifying fidelity and love.

Alyonushka, Snegurochka, Elena the Beautiful - these fictional images and portraits of women close to Vasnetsov “in spirit” - Elena Prakhova, Vera and Elizaveta Grigorievna Mamontov, portraits of his wife, daughter, niece from different sides highlight what is called the Russian female soul, which becomes for Vasnetsov is the personification of the Motherland, Russia.

Alkonost. In Byzantine and Russian medieval legends, a wonderful bird, a resident of Iria - the Slavic paradise. Her face is feminine, her body is birdlike, her voice is sweet, like love itself. Hearing Alkonost’s singing can forget everything in the world with delight, but there is no evil from her, unlike Sirin.

Alkonost lays eggs at the edge of the sea, but does not hatch them, but immerses them in the depths of the sea. At this time there is no wind for seven days. According to ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, Keik's wife, upon learning of the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her alcyone (kingfisher).

She is depicted in popular prints as a half-woman, half-bird with large multi-colored feathers and a girl’s head, overshadowed by a crown and a halo, in which a short inscription is sometimes placed. In addition to wings, Alkonos has hands in which she holds flowers of paradise or a package with an explanatory inscription. She lives in the tree of paradise, on the island of Buyan, together with the bird Sirin, and has a sweet voice, like love itself. When she sings, she doesn’t feel herself. He who hears her wonderful singing will forget everything in the world. With her songs she consoles and elevates future joy. This is the bird of joy.

But Sirin, a dark bird, a dark force, a messenger from the ruler of the underworld. From head to waist Sirin is a woman of incomparable beauty, and from the waist she is a bird. Whoever listens to her voice forgets about everything in the world and dies, and there is no strength to force him not to listen to Sirin’s voice, and death for him at this moment is true bliss. Dahl explained in the famous dictionary this way: “... mythical and church birds owls, or eagle owls, scarecrows; there are popular prints depicting birds of paradise with women's faces and breasts"(V. Dal "Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language"). In Russian spiritual poems, the Sirin, descending from heaven to earth, enchants people with her singing. In Western European legends, the Sirin is the embodiment of an unfortunate soul. This is the bird of sadness.

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What's the use of a book, thought Alice.

– if there are no pictures or conversations in it?

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Surprisingly, children's illustrations from Russia (USSR) have an exact year of birth - 1925. This year, a children's literature department was created at the Leningrad State Publishing House (GIZ). Before this, books with illustrations had not been published specifically for children. Many artists painted pictures based on oral folk art: epics, fairy tales, songs.

Find out, remember, tell your children.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov

(1848-1926) –

one of the first Russian artists who

pushed the boundaries of conventional genres and showed

a fairy-tale world illuminated by poetic fantasy

people.

Vasnetsov is one of the first Russian artists

turned to recreating images of folk tales

and epics in painting.

He spent his childhood in the harsh, picturesque Vyatka region. A talkative cook who tells fairy tales to children, the stories of wandering people who have seen a lot in their lifetime, according to the artist himself, “made me fall in love with the past and present of my people for the rest of my life, and in many ways determined my path.” Already at the beginning of his work, he created a number of illustrations for the Little Humpbacked Horse and “The Firebird.” In addition to fairy tales, he has works dedicated to the heroic images of epics. “The Knight at the Crossroads”, “Three Heroes”. The famous painting “Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf” was written based on the plot of one of the most famous and widespread fairy tales, reproduced in popular prints of the 18th century.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin

(1876-1942, Leningrad)

Russian artist, book illustrator and theater

ral designer. Bilibin illustrated

a large number of fairy tales, including A.S.

Pushkin. Developed his own style - “Bilibinsky”

Graphic representation with respect to tradition

ancient Russian and folk art, carefully

traced and detailed patterned outline -

drawing, colored with watercolors. Style

Bilibin's style became popular and he began to

imitate.

For many, fairy tales, epics, and images of ancient Rus' have long been inextricably linked with Bilibin’s illustrations.

Vladimir Alekseevich Milashevsky

(1893, Saratov - 1976, Moscow)

He illustrated and designed about 100 books for children and youth. But Milashevsky never belonged to the so-called “children’s” artists. With the same success, he illustrated the works of classics of world literature and Soviet writers. It is difficult to list everything he worked on - his creative range is extremely wide.

What is the secret of his success among children and youth? Strictly speaking, there is no secret. He just always followed the rule:Everything needs to be done just as well for children as for adults, and even better.. He never got along with children, didn’t lisp, didn’t imitate children’s drawings, didn’t try to speak to them in some special “childish” language that they supposedly understood. When illustrating a children's book, no matter what it was, he put all of himself into his drawings, was truly carried away by it and captivated young readers. And this is probably why both children and young people love the books illustrated by him so much.

The fabulous colors of Vladimir Milashevsky

Vladimir Grigorievich Suteev

(1903-1993, Moscow)

Children's writer, illustrator and animator. His kind, cheerful pictures look like stills from a cartoon. Suteev’s drawings turned many fairy tales into masterpieces.

For example, not all parents consider the works of Korney Chukovsky to be necessary classics, and most of them do not consider his works talented. But I want to hold Chukovsky’s fairy tales, illustrated by Vladimir Suteev, in my hands and read them to children.

Boris Aleksandrovich Dekhterev

(1908-1993, Kaluga, Moscow) –

People's artist, Soviet graphic artist, illustrator. He worked primarily in pencil drawing and watercolor techniques. Dekhterev’s good old illustrations are a whole era in the history of children’s illustration; many illustrators call Boris Alexandrovich their teacher.

Dekhterev illustrated children's fairy tales by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Charles Perrault, and Hans Christian Andersen. As well as works of other Russian writers and world classics, for example, Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, William Shakespeare.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Ustinov

(b. 1937, Moscow)

his teacher was Dekhterev, and many modern illustrators already consider Ustinov their teacher.

Fairy tales with his illustrations were published not only in Russia (USSR), but also in Japan, Germany, Korea and other countries. Almost three hundred works were illustrated by the famous artist for children's publishing houses of the USSR, and he worked in the magazine “Murzilka”. Ustinov’s illustrations for Russian folk tales “The Three Bears”, “Masha and the Bear”, “Little Fox Sister”, “The Frog Princess”, “Geese-Swans” and many others remain the most beloved for children.

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov

(1900-1973, Vyatka, Leningrad) –

People's artist and illustrator. His

Pictures for folk songs, amusing

All kids like cams and jokes

(Ladushki, Rainbow-arc). He illustrated

folk tales, tales of Leo Tolstoy,

Petra Ershova, Samuil Marshak, Vitaly

Bianchi and other classics of Russian literature.

“I really like to remember my childhood. When I write, draw, I live everything I remember and saw in childhood,” said Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov.

When buying children's books with illustrations by Yuri Vasnetsov, make sure that the pictures are clear and moderately bright. Using the name of a famous artist, books have recently often been published with unclear scans of drawings or with increased unnatural brightness and contrast, and this is not very good for children's eyes.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin - famous Russian artist, illustrator. Born on August 4, 1876 in the village of Tarkhovka, St. Petersburg province, he passed away on February 7, 1942 in Leningrad. The main genre in which Ivan Bilibin worked is considered to be book graphics. In addition, he created various paintings, panels and scenery for theatrical productions, and was involved in the creation of theatrical costumes.

Still, most of the fans of this wonderful Russian’s talent know him for his merits in the fine arts. I must say that Ivan Bilibin had a good school to study the art of painting and graphics. It all started with the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Then there was the studio of the artist A. Aschbe in Munich; At the school-workshop of Princess Maria Tenisheva, he studied painting under the guidance of Ilya Repin himself, then, under his leadership, there was the Higher Art School of the Academy of Arts.

I.Ya. Bilibin lived most of his life in St. Petersburg. He was a member of the World of Art association. I began to show interest in the ethnographic style of painting after I saw the painting “Bogatyrs” by the great artist Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov at one of the exhibitions. For the first time, he created several illustrations in his recognizable “Bilibino” style after he accidentally ended up in the village of Egny in the Tver province. The Russian hinterland with its dense, untouched forests, wooden houses, similar to those very fairy tales of Pushkin and the paintings of Viktor Vasnetsov, inspired him so much with its originality that, without thinking twice, he began creating drawings. It was these drawings that became illustrations for the book “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.” We can say that it was here, in the heart of Russia, in its distant settlements lost in the forests, that all the talent of this wonderful artist manifested itself. After that, he began to actively visit other regions of our country and write more and more illustrations for fairy tales and epics. It was in the villages that the image of ancient Rus' was still preserved. People continued to wear ancient Russian costumes, held traditional holidays, decorated their houses with intricate carvings, etc. Ivan Bilibin captured all this in his illustrations, making them head and shoulders above the illustrations of other artists thanks to realism and precisely noted details.

His work is the tradition of ancient Russian folk art in a modern way, in accordance with all the laws of book graphics. What he did is an example of how modernity and the culture of the past of our great country can coexist. Being, in fact, an illustrator of children's books, he attracted the attention of a much larger audience of viewers, critics and connoisseurs of beauty with his art.

Ivan Bilibin illustrated such tales as: “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf” (1899), “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1905), “Volga” (1905), “The Golden Cockerel” (1909 ), “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1910) and others. In addition, he designed the covers of various magazines, including: “World of Art”, “Golden Fleece”, publications of “Rosehipnik” and “Moscow Book Publishing House”.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin is famous not only for his illustrations in the traditional Russian style. After the February revolution, he painted a double-headed eagle, which was first the coat of arms of the Provisional Government, and from 1992 to this day adorns the coins of the Bank of Russia. The great Russian artist died in Leningrad during the blockade on February 7, 1942 in a hospital. The last work was an illustration for the epic “Duke Stepanovich”. He was buried in the mass grave of professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.

Brilliant words of Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin: “Only quite recently, like America, they discovered the old artistic Rus', vandalized, covered with dust and mold. But even under the dust it was beautiful, so beautiful that the first momentary impulse of those who discovered it is quite understandable: to return it! return!".

Ivan Bilibin paintings

Baba Yaga. Illustration for the fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful

White Rider. The fairy tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful

Illustration for the epic Volga

Illustration for the fairy tale White Duck

Fairy tale Marya Morevna

Illustration for the Tale of the Golden Cockerel

The Tale of Tsar Saltan

Illustration for the Tale of Tsar Saltan

The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf

Illustration for the Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf

Illustration for the fairy tale Feather of Finist the Bright Falcon

Publications in the Museums section

Pictures from childhood

Guides to the world of children's literature, thanks to which lines that are still incomprehensible to the little reader acquire bright and magical images. Children's book illustrators who choose this path, as a rule, remain faithful to it throughout their entire creative lives. And their readers, growing up, remain attached to pictures from increasingly receding childhood. Natalya Letnikova remembered the work of outstanding Russian illustrators.

Ivan Bilibin

Ivan Bilibin. "Firebird". Illustration for “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.” 1899

Boris Kustodiev. Portrait of Ivan Bilibin. 1901. Private collection

Ivan Bilibin. "Dead Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf." Illustration for “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.” 1899

A theater designer and teacher at the Academy of Arts, Bilibin created a unique author’s style, which was later called “Bilibinsky”. The artist’s works were distinguished by an abundance of ornaments and patterns, fabulous images while accurately following the historical appearance of Russian costume and household items. Bilibin drew the first illustration back in 1899 for “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.” For forty years, the artist turned to Russian folk tales and epics. His drawings lived on the pages of children's books and on theater stages in St. Petersburg, Prague, and Paris.

Boris Dekhterev

Boris Dekhterev. Illustration for the work “Puss in Boots”. 1949 Photo: kids-pix.blogspot.ru

Boris Dekhterev. Year unknown. Photo: artpanorama.su

Boris Dekhterev. Illustration for the work “Little Red Riding Hood”. 1949 Photo: fairyroom.ru

Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots and Little Thumb, heroes of Alexander Pushkin's fairy tales, received watercolor portraits from the light brush of Boris Dekhterev. The famous illustrator created “the strict and noble appearance of a children’s book.” The professor at the Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov devoted thirty years of his creative life not only to teaching students: Boris Dekhterev was the main artist at the Children's Literature publishing house and opened the door to the world of fairy tales for many generations of young readers.

Vladimir Suteev

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the work “Who Said Meow.” 1962 Photo: wordpress.com

Vladimir Suteev. Year unknown. Photo: subscribe.ru

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the work “Sack of Apples”. 1974 Photo: llibre.ru

The illustrations, similar to frames from cartoons frozen on book pages, were created by Vladimir Suteev, one of the first Soviet animation directors. Suteev came up with not only picturesque images for the classics - fairy tales of Korney Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak, Sergei Mikhalkov - but also his own stories. While working in a children's publishing house, Suteev wrote about forty instructive and witty fairy tales: “Who Said Meow?”, “Sack of Apples,” “The Magic Wand.” These were books beloved by many generations of children, in which, as you would want in childhood, there were more pictures than text.

Victor Chizhikov

Victor Chizhikov. Illustration for the work “Doctor Aibolit”. 1976 Photo: fairyroom.ru

Victor Chizhikov. Year unknown. Photo: dic.academic.ru

Victor Chizhikov. Illustration for the work “The Adventures of Cippolino”. 1982 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

Only a master of creating touching images for children's books could move an entire stadium to tears. This is what happened with Viktor Chizhikov, who drew the Olympic bear in 1980, and was also the author of illustrations for hundreds of children's books: Viktor Dragunsky, Mikhail Plyatskovsky, Boris Zakhoder, Hans Christian Andersen, Nikolai Nosov, Eduard Uspensky. For the first time in the history of Russian children's literature, collections of books with illustrations by the artist were published, including the twenty-volume set “Visiting V. Chizhikov.” “It has always been a joy for me to draw a children’s book”, - said the artist himself.

Evgeny Charushin

Evgeny Charushin. Illustrations for the work "Wolf". 1931 Photo: weebly.com

Evgeny Charushin. 1936 Photo: lib.ru

Evgeny Charushin. Illustrations for the work “Children in a Cage”. 1935 Photo: wordpress.com

Charushin had been reading books about animals since childhood, and his favorite was “The Life of Animals” by Alfred Brehm. The future artist re-read it many times, and at an older age he went to a stuffed animal workshop near his house to draw from life. Thus was born an animal artist who, after graduating from the Academy of Arts, devoted his work to the design of children's stories about animals. Charushin's outstanding illustrations for Vitaly Bianchi's book were even acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery. And while working with Samuil Marshak on the book “Children in a Cage,” at the insistence of the writer, Charushin tried to write. This is how his stories “Tomka”, “Wolf” and others appeared.

Ivan Semenov

Ivan Semenov. Illustrations for the work “Dreamers”. 1960 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

Ivan Semenov. Year unknown. Photo: colory.ru

Ivan Semenov. Illustration for the work “Living Hat”. 1962 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

The creator of the famous Pencil and the entire children's magazine “Funny Pictures” began with caricatures. For the sake of what he loved, he had to quit the Medical Institute, since he simply had no time to draw due to his studies. The artist’s first recognition from children came from illustrations for Nikolai Nosov’s funny stories “Dreamers” and “The Living Hat,” and the circulation of the book “Bobik Visiting Barbos” with Semenov’s illustrations exceeded three million copies. In 1962, Ivan Semenov, together with Agnia Barto, toured an exhibition of Soviet children's books throughout England. By that time, the artist headed the editorial office of “Funny Pictures” and knew literally everything about children’s literature and the life of Soviet children.