Pictures from childhood. Children's book illustrators

When you see these drawings, you want to take it and get inside - like Alice through the Looking Glass. The artists who illustrated the favorite books of our childhood were real wizards. We bet that now you will not only see in bright colors the room in which your crib stood, but you will also hear the voice of your mother reading a bedtime story!

Vladimir Suteev

Vladimir Suteev himself was the author of many fairy tales (for example, “Who said MEOW?”, known from the wonderful cartoon). But most of all we love him for all these inimitable hedgehogs, bears and bunnies - we literally looked into books with Suteev’s animals!

Leonid Vladimirsky

Leonid Vladimirsky is the cutest Scarecrow in the world, the Wise Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, as well as the rest of the company that tramped to the Emerald City along the road paved with yellow brick. And no less cute Pinocchio!

Victor Chizhikov

Not a single issue of “Murzilka” and “Funny Pictures” could do without Viktor Chizhikov’s drawings. He painted the world of Dragunsky and Uspensky - and once he took and painted the immortal Olympic Bear.

Aminadav Kanevsky

Actually, Murzilka himself was created by the artist with unusual name Aminadav Kanevsky. In addition to Murzilka, he owns a lot of recognizable illustrations by Marshak, Chukovsky, and Agnia Barto.

Ivan Semenov

The pencil from “Funny Pictures”, as well as many hand-drawn stories for this magazine, were drawn by Ivan Semyonov. In addition to our first comics, he also created a lot of excellent drawings for Nosov’s stories about Kolya and Mishka and the story about “Bobik visiting Barbos.”

Vladimir Zarubin

The coolest postcards in the world were drawn by Vladimir Zarubin. He also illustrated books, but collectors now collect these cute New Year’s squirrels and 8 March hares separately. And they do it right.

Elena Afanasyeva

The artist Elena Afanasyeva produced very characteristic (and so correct!) Soviet children. It's impossible to watch without nostalgia.

Evgeny Charushin

When the word “cute” did not yet exist, there was already the cutest artist: Evgeniy Charushin, the main expert on animal life. Impossibly fluffy kittens, shaggy bear cubs and disheveled sparrows - I just wanted to strangle them all... well, in my arms.

Anatoly Savchenko

And Anatoly Savchenko created the funniest and most mischievous creatures in the world: the prodigal parrot Kesha, the lazy Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom - and that same Carlson! Other Carlsons are simply wrong, that's all.

Valery Dmitryuk

Another king of enthusiasm and hooliganism is Valery Dmitryuk’s Dunno. And this artist equally successfully decorated adult “Crocodiles”.

Heinrich Valk

Another famous “crocodile” - Heinrich Valk - was remarkably able to capture the characters of boys and girls, as well as their parents. It is in his performance that we present “Dunno on the Moon”, “Vitya Maleev at school and at home”, “Hottabych” and Mikhalkov’s heroes.

Konstantin Rotov

Cartoonist Konstantin Rotov depicted the funniest and brightest (despite the fact that it was black and white) “The Adventures of Captain Vrungel.”

Ivan Bilibin

Prince Ivans and Gray wolves, firebirds and frog princesses, golden cockerels and goldfish... In general, all folk tales and Pushkin's tales are forever Ivan Bilibin. Every detail of this intricate and patterned sorcery can be examined indefinitely.

Yuri Vasnetsov

And even before Pushkin, we were entertained by riddles, nursery rhymes, white-sided magpies, “Cat’s House” and “Teremok”. And this whole merry carousel shimmered with the colors of Yuri Vasnetsov.

Boris Dekhterev

When we grew up to “Thumbelina”, “Puss in Boots” and Perrault and Andersen, Boris Dekhterev transported us to their countries - with the help of several magic wands: colored pencils and watercolor brushes.

Eduard Nazarov

The most gorgeous Winnie the Pooh is by Shepard (although he is also good, so what), but still by Eduard Nazarov! He illustrated books and worked on our favorite cartoons. Speaking of cartoons, it was Nazarov who drew the funny heroes of the fairy tales “The Journey of an Ant” and “Once Upon a Time There Was a Dog.”

Vyacheslav Nazaruk

A smiling Little Raccoon, a friendly cat Leopold and a treacherous couple of mice, as well as a sad Mammoth who was looking for his mother - all this is the work of the artist Vyacheslav Nazaruk.

Nikolay Radlov

A serious artist Nikolai Radlov successfully illustrated children's books: Barto, Marshak, Mikhalkov, Volkov - and he illustrated them so well that they were reprinted a hundred times. His own book “Stories in Pictures” became especially famous.

Gennady Kalinovsky

Gennady Kalinovsky - author of very bizarre and unusual graphic drawings. His style of drawing was in perfect harmony with the mood English fairy tales- “Mary Poppins” and “Alice in Wonderland” were just “currier and stranger”! No less original are Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and other funny lads from “The Tales of Uncle Remus”.

G.A.V. Traugott

The mysterious “G.A.V. Traugott" sounded like the name of some magical hero Andersen. In fact, it was a whole family contract of artists: father Georgy and his sons Alexander and Valery. And the heroes of the same Andersen turned out so light, slightly careless - they were about to take off and melt!

Evgeny Migunov

Our beloved Alice Kira Bulycheva is also Alice Evgenia Migunova: this artist illustrated literally all the books of the great science fiction writer.

Natalia Orlova

However, there was another Alice in our lives - from the world cartoon “The Secret of the Third Planet”. It was created by Natalia Orlova. Moreover main character the artist drew from her own daughter, and the pessimist Zeleny from her husband!

The master’s artistic heritage is not limited to book graphics. A. F. Pakhomov - author of monumental paintings, paintings, easel graphics: drawings, watercolors, numerous prints, including exciting sheets of the series “Leningrad in the days of the siege”. However, it so happened that in the literature about the artist there was an inaccurate idea of ​​​​the true scale and time of his activity. Sometimes coverage of his work began only with works from the mid-30s, and sometimes even later - with a series of lithographs from the war years. Such a limited approach not only narrowed and curtailed the idea of ​​the original and vibrant legacy of A.F. Pakhomov, created over half a century, but also impoverished Soviet art as a whole.

The need to study the work of A. F. Pakhomov is long overdue. The first monograph about him appeared in the mid-30s. Naturally, only a part of the works was considered in it. Despite this and some limited understanding of traditions characteristic of that time, the work of the first biographer V.P. Anikieva retained its value from the factual side, as well as (with the necessary adjustments) conceptually. In the essays about the artist published in the 50s, the coverage of material from the 20s and 30s turned out to be narrower, and the coverage of the work of subsequent periods was more selective. Today, the descriptive and evaluative side of works about A.F. Pakhomov, two decades distant from us, seems to have lost much of its credibility.

In the 60s, A.F. Pakhomov wrote the original book “About his work.” The book clearly showed the fallacy of a number of prevailing ideas about his work. The artist’s thoughts about time and art expressed in this work, as well as extensive material from recordings of conversations with Alexei Fedorovich Pakhomov, made by the author of these lines, helped create the monograph offered to readers.

A.F. Pakhomov owns an extremely large number of works of painting and graphics. Without pretending to cover them exhaustively, the author of the monograph considered it his task to give an idea of ​​the main aspects creative activity master, about its richness and originality, about teachers and colleagues who contributed to the development of A.F. Pakhomov’s art. The civic spirit, deep vitality, and realism characteristic of the artist’s works made it possible to show the development of his work in constant and close connection with the life of the Soviet people.

Being one of the greatest masters Soviet art, A.F. Pakhomov carried throughout his long life and creative path an ardent love for the Motherland, for its people. High humanism, truthfulness, imaginative richness make his works so sincere, sincere, full of warmth and optimism.

IN Vologda region near the town of Kadnikov, on the banks of the Kubena River, lies the village of Varlamovo. There, on September 19 (October 2), 1900, a boy was born to the peasant woman Efimiya Petrovna Pakhomova, who was named Alexei. His father, Fyodor Dmitrievich, came from “appanage” farmers who did not know the horrors of serfdom in the past. This circumstance played an important role in way of life and prevailing character traits, developed the ability to behave simply, calmly, and with dignity. Traits of particular optimism, broad-mindedness, spiritual directness, and responsiveness were also rooted here. Alexey was brought up in a working environment. We didn't live well. As in the entire village, there was not enough of their own bread until spring; they had to buy it. Additional income was required, which was provided by adult family members. One of the brothers was a stonemason. Many fellow villagers worked as carpenters. And yet young Alexei remembered the early period of his life as the most joyful. After two years of study at a parochial school, and then two more years at a zemstvo school in a neighboring village, he was sent “at government expense and for government grub” to a higher elementary school in the city of Kadnikov. The time spent studying there remained in the memory of A.F. Pakhomov as very difficult and hungry. “Since then, my carefree childhood in my father’s house,” he said, “has always seemed to me the happiest and most poetic time, and this poeticization of childhood later became the main motive in my work.” Alexei's artistic abilities manifested themselves early, although where he lived there were no conditions for their development. But even in the absence of teachers, the boy achieved certain results. The neighboring landowner V. Zubov drew attention to his talent and gave Alyosha pencils, paper and reproductions of paintings by Russian artists. Pakhomov's early drawings, which have survived to this day, reveal something that later, being enriched by professional skill, will become characteristic of his work. The little artist was fascinated by the image of a person and, above all, a child. He draws his brothers, sister, and neighbor kids. It is interesting that the rhythm of the lines of these simple pencil portraits echoes the drawings of his mature years.

In 1915, by the time he graduated from the school of the city of Kadnikov, at the suggestion of the district leader of the nobility Yu. Zubov, local art lovers announced a subscription and, with the money collected, sent Pakhomov to Petrograd to the school of A. L. Stieglitz. With the revolution came changes in the life of Alexei Pakhomov. Under the influence of new teachers who appeared at the school - N. A. Tyrsa, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, S. V. Chekhonin, V. I. Shukhaev - he strives to better understand the tasks of art. A short study under the guidance of the great master of drawing Shukhaev gave him a lot of valuable things. These classes laid the foundation for understanding the structure human body. He strived for a deep study of anatomy. Pakhomov was convinced of the need not to copy the surroundings, but to meaningfully depict them. While drawing, he got used to not being dependent on light and shadow conditions, but to “illuminate” nature with his eye, leaving close parts of the volume light and darkening those that are more distant. “True,” the artist noted, “I did not become a true believer of Shukhaev, that is, I did not paint with sanguine, smearing it with an eraser so that the human body looked impressive.” The lessons of the most prominent artists of the book, Dobuzhinsky and Chekhonin, were useful, as Pakhomov admitted. He especially remembered the latter’s advice: to achieve the ability to write fonts on a book cover immediately with a brush, without preparatory outline with a pencil, “like an address on an envelope.” According to the artist, such development of the necessary eye helped later in sketches from life, where he could, starting with some detail, place everything depicted on the sheet.

In 1918, when it became impossible to live in cold and hungry Petrograd without a regular income, Pakhomov left for his homeland, becoming an art teacher at a school in Kadnikov. These months were of great benefit in furthering his education. After lessons in the first and second grade classes, he read voraciously, as long as the lighting allowed and his eyes did not get tired. “I was in an excited state all the time; I was seized by a fever of knowledge. The whole world was opening up before me, which, it turns out, I hardly knew,” Pakhomov recalled about this time. “I accepted the February and October revolutions with joy, like most of the people around me, but only now, reading books on sociology, political economy, historical materialism, history, did I begin to truly understand the essence of the events that took place.”

The treasures of science and literature were revealed to the young man; It was quite natural for him to intend to continue his interrupted studies in Petrograd. In a familiar building on Solyanoy Lane, he began studying with N.A. Tyrsa, who was then also the commissar of the former Stieglitz School. “We, Nikolai Andreevich’s students, were very surprised by his costume,” said Pakhomov. “The commissars of those years wore leather caps and jackets with a sword belt and a revolver in a holster, and Tyrsa walked with a cane and a bowler hat. But they listened to his conversations about art with bated breath.” The head of the workshop wittily refuted outdated views on painting, introduced students to the achievements of the impressionists, the experience of post-impressionism, and gently drew attention to the searches that are visible in the works of Van Gogh and especially Cezanne. Tyrsa did not put forward a clear program for the future of art; he demanded spontaneity from those who studied in his workshop: write as you feel. In 1919, Pakhomov was drafted into the Red Army. He became intimately familiar with the previously unfamiliar military environment and truly understood folk character army of the Land of Soviets, which later affected the interpretation of this topic in his work. In the spring of the following year, demobilized after illness, Pakhomov, having arrived in Petrograd, moved from the workshop of N. A. Tyrsa to V. V. Lebedev, deciding to get an idea of ​​​​the principles of cubism, which were reflected in a number of works by Lebedev and his students. Little of Pakhomov’s work completed at this time has survived. Such, for example, is “Still Life” (1921), distinguished by a subtle sense of texture. It reveals the desire, learned from Lebedev, to achieve “doneness” in works, to look not for superficial completeness, but for constructive pictorial organization of the canvas, not forgetting the plastic qualities of what is depicted.

The idea of ​​a new great job Pakhomov’s painting “Haymaking” originated in his native village of Varlamov. There the material for it was collected. The artist depicted not an ordinary everyday scene of mowing, but the help of young peasants to their neighbors. Although the transition to collective, collective farm labor was then a matter of the future, the event itself, showing the enthusiasm of youth and passion for work, was in some ways already akin to new trends. Sketches and sketches of figures of mowers, fragments of the landscape: grass, bushes, stubble indicate amazing consistency and seriousness artistic design, where bold textural searches are combined with the solution of plastic problems. Pakhomov’s ability to capture the rhythm of movements contributed to the dynamism of the composition. The artist worked on this painting for several years and completed many preparatory works. In a number of them he developed plots close to or accompanying the main theme.

The drawing “Beating the Scythes” (1924) shows two young peasants at work. They were sketched by Pakhomov from life. Then he went over this sheet with a brush, generalizing what was depicted without observing his models. Good plastic qualities, combined with the transmission of strong movement and a general painterly use of ink, are visible in the earlier work of 1923, Two Mowers. Despite the deep truthfulness, and one might say, the severity of the drawing, here the artist was interested in the alternation of plane and volume. The sheet makes clever use of ink washes. The landscape surroundings are hinted at. The texture of mowed and standing grass is noticeable, which adds rhythmic variety to the design.

Among the considerable number of developments in the color of the “Haymaking” plot, one should mention the watercolor “Mower in a Pink Shirt.” In it, in addition to painterly washes with a brush, scratching was used on the wet paint layer, which gave a special sharpness to the image and was introduced into the picture in another technique (in oil painting). The large sheet “Haymaking”, painted in watercolor, is colorful. In it the scene seems to be seen from high point vision. This made it possible to show all the figures of the mowers walking in a row and to achieve a special dynamics in the transmission of their movements, which is facilitated by the arrangement of the figures diagonally. Having appreciated this technique, the artist constructed the picture in this way, and then did not forget it in the future. Pakhomov achieved a picturesque overall palette and conveyed the impression of morning haze, permeated sunlight. The same theme is dealt with differently in the oil painting “At the Mow,” depicting mowers at work and a horse grazing on the side near a cart. The landscape here is different than in the other sketches, variants and in the painting itself. Instead of a field, there is the bank of a fast river, which is emphasized by the currents and a boat with an oarsman. The color of the landscape is expressive, built on various cold green tones, only warmer shades are introduced in the foreground. A certain decorative quality was found in the combination of figures with the surroundings, which enhanced the overall color tone.

One of Pakhomov’s paintings on sports themes in the 20s is “Boys on Skates.” The artist built the composition on the image of the longest moment of movement and therefore the most fruitful, giving an idea of ​​​​what has passed and what will happen. Another figure in the distance is shown in contrast, introducing rhythmic variety and completing the compositional idea. In this picture, along with his interest in sports, one can see Pakhomov’s appeal to the most important topic for his work - the lives of children. Previously, this trend was reflected in the artist’s graphics. Beginning in the mid-20s, Pakhomov’s deep understanding and creation of images of children of the Land of the Soviets was Pakhomov’s outstanding contribution to art. Studying large pictorial and plastic problems, the artist solved them in works on this new important topic. At the exhibition in 1927, the painting “Peasant Girl” was shown, which, although its purpose had something in common with the portraits discussed above, was also of independent interest. The artist's attention focused on the image of the girl's head and hands, painted with great plastic feeling. The type of young face is captured in an original way. Close to this painting in terms of immediacy of sensation is “Girl with Her Hair,” exhibited for the first time in 1929. It differed from the bust-length image of 1927 in a new, more expanded composition, including almost the entire full-length figure, conveyed in a more complex movement. The artist showed a relaxed pose of a girl, straightening her hair and looking into a small mirror lying on her knee. Sound combinations The golden face and hands, the blue dress and the red bench, the scarlet jacket and the ocher-greenish log walls of the hut contribute to the emotionality of the image. Pakhomov subtly captured the innocent expression baby face, touching pose. Vivid, unusual images stopped the audience. Both works were part of foreign exhibitions of Soviet art.

Throughout his half-century of creative activity, A.F. Pakhomov was in close contact with the life of the Soviet country, and this imbued his works with inspired conviction and the power of life’s truth. His artistic individuality developed early. An acquaintance with his work shows that already in the 20s it was distinguished by depth and thoroughness, enriched by the experience of studying world culture. In its formation, the role of the art of Giotto and the Proto-Renaissance is obvious, but the influence of ancient Russian painting was no less profound. A.F. Pakhomov was one of the masters who took an innovative approach to the rich classical heritage. His works have a modern feel in solving both pictorial and graphic problems.

Pakhomov’s mastery of new themes in the canvases “1905 in the Village,” “Riders,” “Spartakovka,” and in the cycle of paintings about children is important for the development of Soviet art. The artist played a prominent role in creating the image of his contemporary; his series of portraits is clear evidence of this. For the first time he introduced such bright and life images young citizens of the Land of Soviets. This side of his talent is extremely valuable. His works enrich and expand ideas about the history of Russian painting. Already in the 1920s, the country's largest museums acquired Pakhomov's paintings. His works have gained international fame at large exhibitions in Europe, America, and Asia.

A.F. Pakhomov was inspired by socialist reality. His attention was drawn to the testing of turbines, the work of weaving factories, and new developments in agricultural life. His works reveal themes related to collectivization, the introduction of technology into the fields, the use of combine harvesters, the operation of tractors at night, and the life of the army and navy. We emphasize the special value of these achievements of Pakhomov, because all this was displayed by the artist back in the 20s and early 30s. His painting “Pioneers with an Individual Farmer,” a series about the “Sower” commune and portraits from “Beautiful Sword” are among the most profound works of our artists about changes in the countryside and collectivization.

The works of A.F. Pakhomov are distinguished by their monumental solutions. In early Soviet mural painting, the artist’s works are among the most striking and interesting. In the “Red Oath” cardboards, paintings and sketches of “Round Dance of Children of All Nations”, paintings about reapers, as well as in general in the best creations of Pakhomov’s paintings, there is a tangible connection with the great traditions of the ancient national heritage, which is part of the treasury of world art. The coloristic, figurative side of his paintings, paintings, portraits, as well as easel and book graphics. The brilliant successes of plein air painting are demonstrated by the series “In the Sun” - a kind of hymn to the youth of the Land of the Soviets. Here, in the depiction of the naked body, the artist acted as one of the great masters who contributed to the development of this genre in Soviet painting. Pakhomov’s color searches were combined with the solution of serious plastic problems.

It must be said that in the person of A.F. Pakhomov, art had one of the largest draftsmen of our time. The master masterfully mastered various materials. Works in ink and watercolor, pen and brush were adjacent to brilliant drawings graphite pencil. His achievements go beyond Russian art and become one of the outstanding creations of world graphics. Examples of this are not difficult to find in a series of drawings made at home in the 1920s, and among sheets made during trips around the country in the next decade, and in series about pioneer camps.

A.F. Pakhomov’s contribution to graphics is enormous. His easel and book works, dedicated to children, are among the outstanding achievements in this field. One of the founders of Soviet illustrated literature, he introduced into it a deep and individualized image of the child. His drawings captivated readers with their vitality and expressiveness. Without teaching, the artist conveyed his thoughts vividly and clearly to children and awakened their feelings. And important topics in education and school life! None of the artists solved them as deeply and truthfully as Pakhomov. For the first time, he illustrated the poems of V.V. Mayakovsky in such a figurative and realistic manner. His drawings for the works of L.N. Tolstoy for children became an artistic discovery. The graphic material examined clearly showed that the work of Pakhomov, an illustrator of modern and classical literature, it is inappropriate to limit it only to the field of children's books. The artist’s excellent drawings for the works of Pushkin, Nekrasov, Zoshchenko testify to great success Russian graphics of the 30s. His works contributed to the establishment of the method of socialist realism.

The art of A. F. Pakhomov is distinguished by citizenship, modernity, and relevance. During the period of the most difficult trials of the Leningrad blockade, the artist did not interrupt his activities. Together with the art masters of the city on the Neva, he, as once in his youth during the Civil War, worked on assignments from the front. Pakhomov’s series of lithographs “Leningrad in the Days of the Siege,” one of the most significant creations of art during the war years, reveals the unparalleled valor and courage of the Soviet people.

The author of hundreds of lithographs, A.F. Pakhomov should be named among those enthusiastic artists who contributed to the development and dissemination of this type of printed graphics. The possibility of appealing to a wide range of viewers and the mass appeal of the circulation print attracted his attention.

His works are characterized by classical clarity and laconicism of visual means. The image of a person is his main goal. An extremely important aspect of the artist’s work, which connects him with classical traditions, is the desire for plastic expressiveness, which is clearly visible in his paintings, drawings, illustrations, prints, right up to his most recent works. He did this constantly and consistently.

A.F. Pakhomov is “a deeply original, great Russian artist, completely immersed in depicting the life of his people, but at the same time absorbing the achievements of world art. The work of A. F. Pakhomov, a painter and graphic artist, is a significant contribution to the development of Soviet artistic culture. /V.S. Matafonov/

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VLADIMIR VASILIEVICH LEBEDEV

14(26).05.1891, St. Petersburg - 21.11.1967, Leningrad

People's Artist of the RSFSR. Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Arts

He worked in St. Petersburg in the studio of F. A. Roubo and attended the school of drawing, painting and sculpture of M. D. Bernstein and L. V. Sherwood (1910-1914), studied in St. Petersburg at the Academy of Arts (1912-1914). Member of the Four Arts Society. Collaborated in the magazines "Satyricon" and "New Satyricon". One of the organizers Windows ROSTA" in Petrograd.

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 in Russia (USSR)
There is an exact year of birth - 1925. This year
a children's literature department was created in Leningradsky
State Publishing House (GIZ). Before this book
with illustrations were not published specifically for children.

Who are they - the authors of the most beloved, beautiful illustrations that have remained in our memory since childhood and are liked by our children?
Find out, remember, share your opinion.
The article was written using stories from parents of current children and reviews of books on online bookstore websites.

Vladimir Grigorievich Suteev(1903-1993, Moscow) - children's writer, illustrator and animator. His kind funny pictures look like scenes 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 of them does 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 (it is believed that the “Dekhterev School” determined the development of book graphics in the country), illustrator. Worked primarily in technology pencil drawing and watercolors. 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.

Nikolai Ustinov - people's artist, illustrator. Fairy tales with his illustrations were published not only in Russia (USSR), but also in Japan, Germany, Korea and other countries. Illustrated almost three hundred works famous artist for publishing houses: “Children’s Literature”, “Malysh”, “Artist of the RSFSR”, publishing houses of Tula, Voronezh, St. Petersburg and others. Worked in the magazine Murzilka.
Ustinov's illustrations for Russian folk tales remain the most beloved for children: Three Bears, Masha and the Bear, Little Fox Sister, The Frog Princess, Geese and Swans and many others.

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov(1900-1973, Vyatka, Leningrad) - people's artist and illustrator. All kids like his pictures for folk songs, nursery rhymes and jokes (Ladushki, Rainbow-arc). He illustrated folk tales, tales of Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Ershov, Samuil Marshak, Vitaly Bianki and other classics of Russian literature.

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, in Lately books are often published with unclear scans of drawings or with increased unnatural brightness and contrast, and this is not very good for children's eyes.

Leonid Viktorovich Vladimirsky(b. 1920, Moscow) is a Russian graphic artist and the most popular illustrator of books about Buratino by A. N. Tolstoy and about the Emerald City by A. M. Volkov, thanks to which he became widely known in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. Painted with watercolors. It is Vladimirsky’s illustrations that many recognize as classic among Volkov’s works. Well, Pinocchio in the form in which several generations of children have known and loved him is undoubtedly his merit.

Victor Alexandrovich Chizhikov(b. 1935, Moscow) - People's Artist of Russia, author of the image of the bear cub Mishka, the summer mascot Olympic Games 1980 in Moscow. Illustrator for the magazines “Crocodile”, “Funny Pictures”, “Murzilka”, drew for many years for the magazine “Around the World”.
Chizhikov illustrated the works of Sergei Mikhalkov, Nikolai Nosov (Vitya Maleev at school and at home), Irina Tokmakova (Alya, Klyaksich and the letter “A”), Alexander Volkov (The Wizard emerald city), poems by Andrei Usachev, Korney Chukovsky and Agnia Barto and other books.

To be fair, it is worth noting that Chizhikov’s illustrations are quite specific and cartoonish. Therefore, not all parents prefer to buy books with his illustrations if there is an alternative. For example, many people prefer the books “The Wizard of the Emerald City” with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky.

Nikolai Ernestovich Radlov(1889-1942, St. Petersburg) - Russian artist, art historian, teacher. Illustrator of children's books: Agnia Barto, Samuil Marshak, Sergei Mikhalkov, Alexander Volkov. Radlov drew with great pleasure for children. His most famous book- comics for kids “Stories in Pictures”. This is a book-album with funny stories about animals and birds. Years have passed, but the collection is still very popular. The stories in pictures were repeatedly republished not only in Russia, but also in other countries. On international competition children's book in America in 1938, the book received second prize.

Alexey Mikhailovich Laptev(1905-1965, Moscow) - graphic artist, book illustrator, poet. The artist’s works are in many regional museums, as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad. Illustrated “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” by Nikolai Nosov, “Fables” by Ivan Krylov, and the magazine “Funny Pictures”. The book with his poems and pictures “Peak, pak, pok” is very loved by more than one generation of children and parents (Briff, the greedy bear, the foals Chernysh and Ryzhik, fifty bunnies and others)

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin(1876-1942, Leningrad) - Russian artist, book illustrator and theater designer. Bilibin illustrated a large number of fairy tales, including Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He developed his own style - “Bilibinsky” - a graphic representation taking into account the traditions of Old Russian and folk art, a carefully drawn and detailed patterned line drawing, colored in watercolor. Bilibin's style became popular and began to be imitated.

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

Vladimir Mikhailovich Konashevich(1888-1963, Novocherkassk, Leningrad) - Russian artist, graphic artist, illustrator. I started illustrating children's books by accident. In 1918, his daughter was three years old. Konashevich drew pictures for her for each letter of the alphabet. One of my friends saw these drawings and liked them. This is how “The ABC in Pictures” was published - the first book by V. M. Konashevich. Since then, the artist has become an illustrator of children's books.
Since the 1930s, illustrating children's literature became the main work of his life. Konashevich also illustrated adult literature, was engaged in painting, and drew pictures in his favorite specific technique - ink or watercolor on Chinese paper.

The main works of Vladimir Konashevich:
- illustration of fairy tales and songs different nations, some of which were illustrated several times;
- fairy tales by G.Kh. Andersen, Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault;
- “The Old Man of the Year” by V. I. Dahl;
- works by Korney Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak.
Last job The artist was illustrating all the fairy tales of A. S. Pushkin.

Anatoly Mikhailovich Savchenko(1924-2011, Novocherkassk, Moscow) - animator and illustrator of children's books. Anatoly Savchenko was the production designer for the cartoons “Kid and Carlson” and “Carlson is Back” and the author of illustrations for Astrid Lindgren’s books. The most famous cartoon works with his direct participation: Moidodyr, the adventures of Murzilka, Petya and Little Red Riding Hood, Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom, The Nutcracker, Tsokotukha the Fly, Kesha the Parrot and others.
Children are familiar with Savchenko’s illustrations from the books: “Piggy Gets Offended” by Vladimir Orlov, “Little Brownie Kuzya” by Tatyana Alexandrova, “Fairy Tales for the Little Ones” by Gennady Tsyferov, “Little Baba Yaga” by Otfried Preussler, as well as books with works similar to cartoons.

Oleg Vladimirovich Vasiliev(b. 1931, Moscow). His works are in the collections of many art museums in Russia and the USA, incl. in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Since the 60s, for more than thirty years he has been designing children's books in collaboration with Eric Vladimirovich Bulatov(born 1933, Sverdlovsk, Moscow).
The most famous are the artists' illustrations for the fairy tales of Charles Perrault and Hans Andersen, the poems of Valentin Berestov and the fairy tales of Gennady Tsyferov.

Boris Arkadyevich Diodorov(born 1934, Moscow) - People's Artist. Favorite technique is color etching. Author of illustrations for many works of Russian and foreign classics. His illustrations for fairy tales are most famous:

Jan Ekholm “Tutta Karlsson the First and Only, Ludwig the Fourteenth and Others”;
- Selma Lagerlöf "Nils' Amazing Journey with wild geese»;
- Sergey Aksakov “ The Scarlet Flower»;
- works of Hans Christian Andersen.

Diodorov illustrated more than 300 books. His works were published in the USA, France, Spain, Finland, Japan, South Korea and other countries. He worked as the chief artist of the publishing house "Children's Literature".

Evgeniy Ivanovich Charushin(1901-1965, Vyatka, Leningrad) - graphic artist, sculptor, prose writer and children's animal writer. The illustrations are mostly done in a free style. watercolor drawing, a little humorous. Children like it, even toddlers. He is known for the illustrations of animals that he drew for his own stories: “About Tomka”, “Wolf and Others”, “Nikitka and His Friends” and many others. He also illustrated other authors: Chukovsky, Prishvin, Bianchi. The most famous book with his illustrations is “Children in a Cage” by Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak.

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Rachev(1906-1997, Tomsk) - animal artist, graphic artist, illustrator. He illustrated mainly Russian folk tales, fables and tales of classics of Russian literature. He mainly illustrated works in which the main characters are animals: Russian fairy tales about animals, fables.

Ivan Maksimovich Semenov(1906-1982, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow) - people's artist, graphic artist, caricaturist. Semyonov worked in newspapers " TVNZ», « Pioneer truth", magazines "Smena", "Crocodile" and others. Back in 1956, on his initiative, the first humorous magazine in the USSR for young children, “Funny Pictures,” was created.
His most famous illustrations are for Nikolai Nosov’s stories about Kolya and Mishka (Fantasers, Living Hat and others) and drawings “Bobik visiting Barbos.”

The names of some other famous contemporary Russian illustrators of children's books:

- Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Nazaruk(b. 1941, Moscow) - production designer for dozens of animated films: Little Raccoon, The Adventures of Leopold the Cat, Mother for a Baby Mammoth, Bazhov's tales and the illustrator of books of the same name.

- Nadezhda Bugoslavskaya (biographical information the author of the article did not find) - the author of kind, beautiful illustrations for many children's books: Poems and songs of Mother Goose, poems by Boris Zakhoder, works by Sergei Mikhalkov, works by Daniil Kharms, stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko, "Pippi Long stocking» Astrid Lindgren and others.

- Igor Egunov(the author of the article did not find biographical information) - contemporary artist, author of bright, well-drawn illustrations for the books: “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Rudolf Raspe, “The Little Humpbacked Horse” by Pyotr Ershov, fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hoffmann, tales of Russian heroes.

- Evgeniy Antonenkov(born 1956, Moscow) - illustrator, favorite technique is watercolor, pen and paper, mixed media. The illustrations are modern, unusual, and stand out among others. Some look at them with indifference, others fall in love with the funny pictures at first sight.
The most famous illustrations: to the tales of Winnie the Pooh (Alan Alexander Milne), “Russian children's fairy tales”, poems and fairy tales by Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Gianni Rodari, Yunna Moritz. “The Stupid Horse” by Vladimir Levin (English ancient folk ballads), illustrated by Antonenkov, is one of the most popular books of the outgoing 2011.
Evgeniy Antonenkov collaborates with publishing houses in Germany, France, Belgium, USA, Korea, Japan, and is a regular participant in prestigious international exhibitions, laureate of the White Crow competition (Bologna, 2004), winner of the Book of the Year diploma (2008).

- Igor Yulievich Oleynikov(b. 1953, Moscow) - artist-animator, mainly works in hand-drawn animation, book illustrator. Surprisingly, such a talented contemporary artist has no special art education.
In animation, Igor Oleinikov is known for the films: “The Secret of the Third Planet”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Sherlock Holmes and I” and others. Worked with children's magazines "Tram", "Sesame Street" Good night, kids! and others.
Igor Oleynikov collaborates with publishing houses in Canada, the USA, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, and participates in prestigious international exhibitions.
The artist’s most famous illustrations for books: “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” by John Tolkien, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Erich Raspe, “The Adventures of Despereaux the Mouse” by Kate DiCamillo, “ Peter Pan» James Barry. Latest books with illustrations by Oleinikov: poems by Daniil Kharms, Joseph Brodsky, Andrei Usachev.

Anna Agrova

Children's book illustrators. Who are the authors of the most favorite pictures?

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 in Russia (USSR)
There is an exact year of birth - 1925. This year
a children's literature department was created in Leningradsky
State Publishing House (GIZ). Before this book
with illustrations were not published specifically for children.

Who are they - the authors of the most beloved, beautiful illustrations that have remained in our memory since childhood and are liked by our children?
Find out, remember, share your opinion.
The article was written using stories from parents of current children and reviews of books on online bookstore websites.

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 (it is believed that the “Dekhterev School” determined the development of book graphics in the country), 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.

Nikolai Ustinov is a national artist and illustrator. 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 publishing houses: “Children’s Literature”, “Malysh”, “Artist of the RSFSR”, publishing houses of Tula, Voronezh, St. Petersburg and others. Worked in the magazine Murzilka.
Ustinov's illustrations for Russian folk tales remain the most beloved for children: Three Bears, Masha and the Bear, Little Fox Sister, The Frog Princess, Geese and Swans and many others.

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov(1900-1973, Vyatka, Leningrad) - people's artist and illustrator. All kids like his pictures for folk songs, nursery rhymes and jokes (Ladushki, Rainbow-arc). He illustrated folk tales, tales of Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Ershov, Samuil Marshak, Vitaly Bianki and other classics of Russian literature.

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.

Leonid Viktorovich Vladimirsky(born 1920, Moscow) is a Russian graphic artist and the most popular illustrator of books about Buratino by A. N. Tolstoy and about the Emerald City by A. M. Volkov, thanks to which he became widely known in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. Painted with watercolors. It is Vladimirsky’s illustrations that many recognize as classic among Volkov’s works. Well, Pinocchio in the form in which several generations of children have known and loved him is undoubtedly his merit.

Victor Alexandrovich Chizhikov(born 1935, Moscow) - People's Artist of Russia, author of the image of the bear cub Mishka, the mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Illustrator for the magazines “Crocodile”, “Funny Pictures”, “Murzilka”, drew for many years for the magazine “Around the World”.
Chizhikov illustrated the works of Sergei Mikhalkov, Nikolai Nosov (Vitya Maleev at school and at home), Irina Tokmakova (Alya, Klyaksich and the letter “A”), Alexander Volkov (The Wizard of the Emerald City), poems by Andrei Usachev, Korney Chukovsky and Agnia Barto and other books .

To be fair, it is worth noting that Chizhikov’s illustrations are quite specific and cartoonish. Therefore, not all parents prefer to buy books with his illustrations if there is an alternative. For example, many people prefer the books “The Wizard of Oz” with illustrations Leonid Vladimirsky.

Nikolai Ernestovich Radlov(1889-1942, St. Petersburg) - Russian artist, art critic, teacher. Illustrator of children's books: Agnia Barto, Samuil Marshak, Sergei Mikhalkov, Alexander Volkov. Radlov drew with great pleasure for children. His most famous book is comics for kids “Stories in Pictures.” This is a book-album with funny stories about animals and birds. Years have passed, but the collection is still very popular. The stories in pictures were repeatedly republished not only in Russia, but also in other countries. At the international children's book competition in America in 1938, the book received second prize.

Alexey Mikhailovich Laptev(1905-1965, Moscow) - graphic artist, book illustrator, poet. The artist’s works are in many regional museums, as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad. Illustrated “The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends” by Nikolai Nosov, “Fables” by Ivan Krylov, and the magazine “Funny Pictures”. The book with his poems and pictures “Peak, pak, pok” is very loved by more than one generation of children and parents (Briff, the greedy bear, the foals Chernysh and Ryzhik, fifty bunnies and others)

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin(1876-1942, Leningrad) - Russian artist, book illustrator and theater designer. Bilibin illustrated a large number of fairy tales, including those of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He developed his own style - “Bilibinsky” - a graphic representation taking into account the traditions of ancient Russian and folk art, a carefully drawn and detailed patterned contour drawing, colored with watercolors. Bilibin's style became popular and began to be imitated.

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

Vladimir Mikhailovich Konashevich(1888-1963, Novocherkassk, Leningrad) - Russian artist, graphic artist, illustrator. I started illustrating children's books by accident. In 1918, his daughter was three years old. Konashevich drew pictures for her for each letter of the alphabet. One of my friends saw these drawings and liked them. This is how “The ABC in Pictures” was published - the first book by V. M. Konashevich. Since then, the artist has become an illustrator of children's books.
Since the 1930s, illustrating children's literature became the main work of his life. Konashevich also illustrated adult literature, was engaged in painting, and drew pictures in his favorite specific technique - ink or watercolor on Chinese paper.

The main works of Vladimir Konashevich:
- illustration of fairy tales and songs of different peoples, some of which were illustrated several times;
- fairy tales by G.Kh. Andersen, Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault;
- “The Old Man of the Year” by V. I. Dahl;
- works by Korney Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak.
The artist’s last work was illustrating all the fairy tales of A. S. Pushkin.

Anatoly Mikhailovich Savchenko(1924-2011, Novocherkassk, Moscow) - animator and illustrator of children's books. Anatoly Savchenko was the production designer for the cartoons “Kid and Carlson” and “Carlson is Back” and the author of illustrations for Astrid Lindgren’s books. The most famous cartoon works with his direct participation: Moidodyr, the adventures of Murzilka, Petya and Little Red Riding Hood, Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom, The Nutcracker, Tsokotukha the Fly, Kesha the Parrot and others.
Children are familiar with Savchenko’s illustrations from the books: “Piggy Gets Offended” by Vladimir Orlov, “Little Brownie Kuzya” by Tatyana Alexandrova, “Fairy Tales for the Little Ones” by Gennady Tsyferov, “Little Baba Yaga” by Otfried Preussler, as well as books with works similar to cartoons.

Oleg Vladimirovich Vasiliev(b. 1931, Moscow). His works are in the collections of many art museums in Russia and the USA, incl. at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Since the 60s, for more than thirty years he has been engaged in the design of children's books in collaboration with Erik Vladimirovich Bulatov (born 1933, Sverdlovsk, Moscow).
The most famous are the artists' illustrations for the fairy tales of Charles Perrault and Hans Andersen, the poems of Valentin Berestov and the fairy tales of Gennady Tsyferov.

Boris Arkadyevich Diodorov(born 1934, Moscow) - People's Artist. Favorite technique is color etching. Author of illustrations for many works of Russian and foreign classics. His illustrations for fairy tales are most famous:

- Jan Ekholm “Tutta Karlsson the First and Only, Ludwig the Fourteenth and Others”;
- Selma Lagerlöf "Nils's Amazing Journey with the Wild Geese";
- Sergey Aksakov “The Scarlet Flower”;
- works of Hans Christian Andersen.

Diodorov illustrated more than 300 books. His works were published in the USA, France, Spain, Finland, Japan, South Korea and other countries. He worked as the chief artist of the publishing house "Children's Literature".

Evgeniy Ivanovich Charushin(1901-1965, Vyatka, Leningrad) - graphic artist, sculptor, prose writer and children's animal writer. Most of the illustrations are done in the style of free watercolor drawings, with a little humor. Children like it, even toddlers. He is known for the illustrations of animals that he drew for his own stories: “About Tomka”, “Wolf and Others”, “Nikitka and His Friends” and many others. He also illustrated other authors: Chukovsky, Prishvin, Bianchi. The most famous book with his illustrations is “Children in a Cage” by Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak.

Evgeniy Mikhailovich Rachev(1906-1997, Tomsk) – animal artist, graphic artist, illustrator. He illustrated mainly Russian folk tales, fables and tales of classics of Russian literature. He mainly illustrated works in which the main characters are animals: Russian fairy tales about animals, fables.

Ivan Maksimovich Semenov(1906-1982, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow) - people's artist, graphic artist, caricaturist. Semenov worked in the newspapers “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Pionerskaya Pravda”, magazines “Smena”, “Crocodile” and others. Back in 1956, on his initiative, the first humorous magazine in the USSR for young children, “Funny Pictures,” was created.
His most famous illustrations are for Nikolai Nosov’s stories about Kolya and Mishka (Fantasers, Living Hat and others) and drawings “Bobik visiting Barbos.”

The names of some other famous contemporary Russian illustrators of children's books:

- Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Nazaruk(b. 1941, Moscow) – production designer of dozens of animated films: Little Raccoon, The Adventures of Leopold the Cat, Mother for a Baby Mammoth, Bazhov’s fairy tales and illustrator of books of the same name.

- Nadezhda Bugoslavskaya(the author of the article did not find biographical information) - the author of kind, beautiful illustrations for many children's books: Poems and songs of Mother Goose, poems by Boris Zakhoder, works by Sergei Mikhalkov, works by Daniil Kharms, stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko, “Pippi Longstocking” by Astrid Lindgren and others.

- Igor Egunov (the author of the article did not find biographical information) is a contemporary artist, author of bright, well-drawn illustrations for books: “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Rudolf Raspe, “The Little Humpbacked Horse” by Pyotr Ershov, fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hoffmann, tales of Russian heroes

- Evgeniy Antonenkov(born 1956, Moscow) - illustrator, favorite technique is watercolor, pen and paper, mixed media. The illustrations are modern, unusual, and stand out among others. Some look at them with indifference, others fall in love with the funny pictures at first sight.
The most famous illustrations: for fairy tales about Winnie the Pooh (Alan Alexander Milne), “Russian children's fairy tales”, poems and fairy tales by Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Gianni Rodari, Yunna Moritz. “The Stupid Horse” by Vladimir Levin (English ancient folk ballads), illustrated by Antonenkov, is one of the most popular books of 2011.
Evgeniy Antonenkov collaborates with publishing houses in Germany, France, Belgium, the USA, Korea, Japan, is a regular participant in prestigious international exhibitions, laureate of the White Crow competition (Bologna, 2004), winner of the Book of the Year diploma (2008).

- Igor Yulievich Oleynikov (b. 1953, Moscow) – artist-animator, mainly works in hand-drawn animation, book illustrator. Surprisingly, such a talented contemporary artist does not have a special art education.
In animation, Igor Oleinikov is known for the films: “The Secret of the Third Planet”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “Sherlock Holmes and I” and others. Worked with children's magazines "Tram", "Sesame Street" "Good night, kids!" and others.
Igor Oleynikov collaborates with publishing houses in Canada, the USA, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, and participates in prestigious international exhibitions.
The artist’s most famous illustrations for books: “The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” by John Tolkien, “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” by Erich Raspe, “The Adventures of Despereaux the Mouse” by Kate DiCamillo, “Peter Pan” by James Barrie. Latest books with illustrations by Oleinikov: poems by Daniil Kharms, Joseph Brodsky, Andrei Usachev.
A m I didn’t really want to introduce you to illustrators, remember our childhood and recommend them to young parents.

(text) Anna Agrova

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The master's artistic heritage is not limited to book graphics. A. F. Pakhomov is the author of monumental paintings, paintings, easel graphics: drawings, watercolors, numerous prints, including the exciting sheets of the series “Leningrad in the days of the siege.” However, it so happened that in the literature about the artist there was an inaccurate idea of ​​​​the true scale and time of his activity. Sometimes coverage of his work began only with works from the mid-30s, and sometimes even later - with a series of lithographs from the war years. Such a limited approach not only narrowed and curtailed the idea of ​​the original and vibrant legacy of A.F. Pakhomov, created over half a century, but also impoverished Soviet art as a whole.

The need to study the work of A. F. Pakhomov is long overdue. The first monograph about him appeared in the mid-30s. Naturally, only a part of the works was considered in it. Despite this and some limited understanding of traditions characteristic of that time, the work of the first biographer V.P. Anikieva retained its value from the factual side, as well as (with the necessary adjustments) conceptually. In the essays about the artist published in the 50s, the coverage of material from the 20s and 30s turned out to be narrower, and the coverage of the work of subsequent periods was more selective. Today, the descriptive and evaluative side of works about A.F. Pakhomov, two decades distant from us, seems to have lost much of its credibility.

In the 60s, A.F. Pakhomov wrote the original book “About his work.” The book clearly showed the fallacy of a number of prevailing ideas about his work. The artist’s thoughts about time and art expressed in this work, as well as extensive material from recordings of conversations with Alexei Fedorovich Pakhomov, made by the author of these lines, helped create the monograph offered to readers.

A.F. Pakhomov owns an extremely large number of works of painting and graphics. Without pretending to cover them exhaustively, the author of the monograph considered it his task to give an idea of ​​the main aspects of the master’s creative activity, its richness and originality, and the teachers and colleagues who contributed to the development of A. F. Pakhomov’s art. The civic spirit, deep vitality, and realism characteristic of the artist’s works made it possible to show the development of his work in constant and close connection with the life of the Soviet people.

Being one of the greatest masters of Soviet art, A.F. Pakhomov carried throughout his long life and creative career a passionate love for the Motherland and its people. High humanism, truthfulness, imaginative richness make his works so sincere, sincere, full of warmth and optimism.

In the Vologda region, near the city of Kadnikov, on the banks of the Kubena River, the village of Varlamovo is located. There, on September 19 (October 2), 1900, a boy was born to the peasant woman Efimiya Petrovna Pakhomova, who was named Alexei. His father, Fyodor Dmitrievich, came from “appanage” farmers who did not know the horrors of serfdom in the past. This circumstance played an important role in the way of life and the prevailing character traits, and developed the ability to behave simply, calmly, and with dignity. Traits of particular optimism, broad-mindedness, spiritual directness, and responsiveness were also rooted here. Alexey was brought up in a working environment. We didn't live well. As in the entire village, there was not enough of their own bread until spring; they had to buy it. Additional income was required, which was provided by adult family members. One of the brothers was a stonemason. Many fellow villagers worked as carpenters. And yet young Alexei remembered the early period of his life as the most joyful. After two years of study at a parochial school, and then two more years at a zemstvo school in a neighboring village, he was sent “at government expense and for government grub” to a higher elementary school in the city of Kadnikov. The time spent studying there remained in the memory of A.F. Pakhomov as very difficult and hungry. “Since then, my carefree childhood in my father’s house,” he said, “has always seemed to me the happiest and most poetic time, and this poeticization of childhood later became the main motive in my work.” Alexei's artistic abilities manifested themselves early, although where he lived there were no conditions for their development. But even in the absence of teachers, the boy achieved certain results. The neighboring landowner V. Zubov drew attention to his talent and gave Alyosha pencils, paper and reproductions of paintings by Russian artists. Pakhomov's early drawings, which have survived to this day, reveal something that later, being enriched by professional skill, will become characteristic of his work. The little artist was fascinated by the image of a person and, above all, a child. He draws his brothers, sister, and neighbor kids. It is interesting that the rhythm of the lines of these simple pencil portraits echoes the drawings of his mature years.

In 1915, by the time he graduated from the school of the city of Kadnikov, at the suggestion of the district leader of the nobility Yu. Zubov, local art lovers announced a subscription and, with the money collected, sent Pakhomov to Petrograd to the school of A. L. Stieglitz. With the revolution came changes in the life of Alexei Pakhomov. Under the influence of new teachers who appeared at the school - N. A. Tyrsa, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, S. V. Chekhonin, V. I. Shukhaev - he strives to better understand the tasks of art. A short study under the guidance of the great master of drawing Shukhaev gave him a lot of valuable things. These classes laid the foundation for understanding the structure of the human body. He strived for a deep study of anatomy. Pakhomov was convinced of the need not to copy the surroundings, but to meaningfully depict them. While drawing, he got used to not being dependent on light and shadow conditions, but to “illuminate” nature with his eye, leaving close parts of the volume light and darkening those that are more distant. “True,” the artist noted, “I did not become a true believer of Shukhaev, that is, I did not paint with sanguine, smearing it with an eraser so that the human body looked impressive.” The lessons of the most prominent artists of the book, Dobuzhinsky and Chekhonin, were useful, as Pakhomov admitted. He especially remembered the latter’s advice: to achieve the ability to write fonts on a book cover immediately with a brush, without preparatory outline with a pencil, “like an address on an envelope.” According to the artist, such development of the necessary eye helped later in sketches from life, where he could, starting with some detail, place everything depicted on the sheet.

In 1918, when it became impossible to live in cold and hungry Petrograd without a regular income, Pakhomov left for his homeland, becoming an art teacher at a school in Kadnikov. These months were of great benefit in furthering his education. After lessons in the first and second grade classes, he read voraciously, as long as the lighting allowed and his eyes did not get tired. “I was in an excited state all the time; I was seized by a fever of knowledge. The whole world was opening up before me, which, it turns out, I hardly knew,” Pakhomov recalled about this time. “I accepted the February and October revolutions with joy, like most of the people around me, but only now, reading books on sociology, political economy, historical materialism, history, did I begin to truly understand the essence of the events that took place.”

The treasures of science and literature were revealed to the young man; It was quite natural for him to intend to continue his interrupted studies in Petrograd. In a familiar building on Solyanoy Lane, he began studying with N.A. Tyrsa, who was then also the commissar of the former Stieglitz School. “We, Nikolai Andreevich’s students, were very surprised by his costume,” said Pakhomov. “The commissars of those years wore leather caps and jackets with a sword belt and a revolver in a holster, and Tyrsa walked with a cane and a bowler hat. But they listened to his conversations about art with bated breath.” The head of the workshop wittily refuted outdated views on painting, introduced students to the achievements of the impressionists, the experience of post-impressionism, and gently drew attention to the searches that are visible in the works of Van Gogh and especially Cezanne. Tyrsa did not put forward a clear program for the future of art; he demanded spontaneity from those who studied in his workshop: write as you feel. In 1919, Pakhomov was drafted into the Red Army. He became intimately familiar with the previously unfamiliar military environment and understood the truly popular character of the army of the Land of the Soviets, which later affected the interpretation of this theme in his work. In the spring of the following year, demobilized after illness, Pakhomov, having arrived in Petrograd, moved from the workshop of N. A. Tyrsa to V. V. Lebedev, deciding to get an idea of ​​​​the principles of cubism, which were reflected in a number of works by Lebedev and his students. Little of Pakhomov’s work completed at this time has survived. Such, for example, is “Still Life” (1921), distinguished by a subtle sense of texture. It reveals the desire, learned from Lebedev, to achieve “doneness” in works, to look not for superficial completeness, but for constructive pictorial organization of the canvas, not forgetting the plastic qualities of what is depicted.

The idea for Pakhomov’s new major work, the painting “Haymaking,” arose in his native village of Varlamov. There the material for it was collected. The artist depicted not an ordinary everyday scene of mowing, but the help of young peasants to their neighbors. Although the transition to collective, collective farm labor was then a matter of the future, the event itself, showing the enthusiasm of youth and passion for work, was in some ways already akin to new trends. Sketches and sketches of figures of mowers, fragments of the landscape: grasses, bushes, stubble testify to the amazing consistency and seriousness of the artistic concept, where bold textural searches are combined with the solution of plastic problems. Pakhomov’s ability to capture the rhythm of movements contributed to the dynamism of the composition. The artist worked on this painting for several years and completed many preparatory works. In a number of them he developed plots close to or accompanying the main theme.

The drawing “Beating the Scythes” (1924) shows two young peasants at work. They were sketched by Pakhomov from life. Then he went over this sheet with a brush, generalizing what was depicted without observing his models. Good plastic qualities, combined with the transmission of strong movement and a general painterly use of ink, are visible in the earlier work of 1923, Two Mowers. Despite the deep truthfulness, and one might say, the severity of the drawing, here the artist was interested in the alternation of plane and volume. The sheet makes clever use of ink washes. The landscape surroundings are hinted at. The texture of mowed and standing grass is noticeable, which adds rhythmic variety to the design.

Among the considerable number of developments in the color of the “Haymaking” plot, one should mention the watercolor “Mower in a Pink Shirt.” In it, in addition to painterly washes with a brush, scratching was used on the wet paint layer, which gave a special sharpness to the image and was introduced into the picture in another technique (in oil painting). The large sheet “Haymaking”, painted in watercolor, is colorful. In it, the scene seems to be seen from a high point of view. This made it possible to show all the figures of the mowers walking in a row and to achieve a special dynamics in the transmission of their movements, which is facilitated by the arrangement of the figures diagonally. Having appreciated this technique, the artist constructed the picture in this way, and then did not forget it in the future. Pakhomov achieved a picturesque overall palette and conveyed the impression of morning haze, permeated with sunlight. The same theme is dealt with differently in the oil painting “At the Mow,” depicting mowers at work and a horse grazing on the side near a cart. The landscape here is different than in the other sketches, variants and in the painting itself. Instead of a field, there is the bank of a fast river, which is emphasized by the currents and a boat with an oarsman. The color of the landscape is expressive, built on various cold green tones, only warmer shades are introduced in the foreground. A certain decorative quality was found in the combination of figures with the surroundings, which enhanced the overall color tone.

One of Pakhomov’s paintings on sports themes in the 20s is “Boys on Skates.” The artist built the composition on the image of the longest moment of movement and therefore the most fruitful, giving an idea of ​​​​what has passed and what will happen. Another figure in the distance is shown in contrast, introducing rhythmic variety and completing the compositional idea. In this picture, along with his interest in sports, one can see Pakhomov’s appeal to the most important topic for his work - the lives of children. Previously, this trend was reflected in the artist’s graphics. Beginning in the mid-20s, Pakhomov’s deep understanding and creation of images of children of the Land of the Soviets was Pakhomov’s outstanding contribution to art. Studying large pictorial and plastic problems, the artist solved them in works on this new important topic. At the exhibition in 1927, the painting “Peasant Girl” was shown, which, although its purpose had something in common with the portraits discussed above, was also of independent interest. The artist's attention focused on the image of the girl's head and hands, painted with great plastic feeling. The type of young face is captured in an original way. Close to this painting in terms of immediacy of sensation is “Girl with Her Hair,” exhibited for the first time in 1929. It differed from the bust-length image of 1927 in a new, more expanded composition, including almost the entire full-length figure, conveyed in a more complex movement. The artist showed a relaxed pose of a girl, straightening her hair and looking into a small mirror lying on her knee. The sonorous combinations of a golden face and hands, a blue dress and a red bench, a scarlet jacket and the ocher-greenish log walls of the hut contribute to the emotionality of the image. Pakhomov subtly captured the ingenuous expression of the child’s face and the touching posture. Vivid, unusual images stopped the audience. Both works were part of foreign exhibitions of Soviet art.

Throughout his half-century of creative activity, A.F. Pakhomov was in close contact with the life of the Soviet country, and this imbued his works with inspired conviction and the power of life’s truth. His artistic individuality developed early. An acquaintance with his work shows that already in the 20s it was distinguished by depth and thoroughness, enriched by the experience of studying world culture. In its formation, the role of the art of Giotto and the Proto-Renaissance is obvious, but the influence of ancient Russian painting was no less profound. A.F. Pakhomov was one of the masters who took an innovative approach to the rich classical heritage. His works have a modern feel in solving both pictorial and graphic problems.

Pakhomov’s mastery of new themes in the canvases “1905 in the Village,” “Riders,” “Spartakovka,” and in the cycle of paintings about children is important for the development of Soviet art. The artist played a prominent role in creating the image of his contemporary; his series of portraits is clear evidence of this. For the first time he introduced such vivid and life-like images of young citizens of the Land of the Soviets into art. This side of his talent is extremely valuable. His works enrich and expand ideas about the history of Russian painting. Already in the 1920s, the country's largest museums acquired Pakhomov's paintings. His works have gained international fame at large exhibitions in Europe, America, and Asia.

A.F. Pakhomov was inspired by socialist reality. His attention was drawn to the testing of turbines, the work of weaving factories, and new developments in agricultural life. His works reveal themes related to collectivization, the introduction of technology into the fields, the use of combine harvesters, the operation of tractors at night, and the life of the army and navy. We emphasize the special value of these achievements of Pakhomov, because all this was displayed by the artist back in the 20s and early 30s. His painting “Pioneers with an Individual Farmer,” a series about the “Sower” commune and portraits from “Beautiful Sword” are among the most profound works of our artists about changes in the countryside and collectivization.

The works of A.F. Pakhomov are distinguished by their monumental solutions. In early Soviet mural painting, the artist’s works are among the most striking and interesting. In the “Red Oath” cardboards, paintings and sketches of “Round Dance of Children of All Nations”, paintings about reapers, as well as in general in the best creations of Pakhomov’s paintings, there is a tangible connection with the great traditions of the ancient national heritage, which is part of the treasury of world art. The coloristic and figurative side of his paintings, paintings, portraits, as well as easel and book graphics is deeply original. The brilliant successes of plein air painting are demonstrated by the series “In the Sun” - a kind of hymn to the youth of the Land of the Soviets. Here, in his depiction of the naked body, the artist acted as one of the great masters who contributed to the development of this genre in Soviet painting. Pakhomov’s color searches were combined with the solution of serious plastic problems.

It must be said that in the person of A.F. Pakhomov, art had one of the largest draftsmen of our time. The master masterfully mastered various materials. Works in ink and watercolor, pen and brush were adjacent to brilliant graphite pencil drawings. His achievements go beyond the scope of domestic art and become one of the outstanding creations of world graphics. Examples of this are not difficult to find in a series of drawings made at home in the 1920s, and among sheets made during trips around the country in the next decade, and in series about pioneer camps.

A.F. Pakhomov’s contribution to graphics is enormous. His easel and book works dedicated to children are among the outstanding successes in this field. One of the founders of Soviet illustrated literature, he introduced into it a deep and individualized image of the child. His drawings captivated readers with their vitality and expressiveness. Without teaching, the artist conveyed his thoughts vividly and clearly to children and awakened their feelings. And important topics of education and school life! None of the artists solved them as deeply and truthfully as Pakhomov. For the first time, he illustrated the poems of V.V. Mayakovsky in such a figurative and realistic manner. His drawings for the works of L.N. Tolstoy for children became an artistic discovery. The graphic material examined clearly showed that the work of Pakhomov, an illustrator of modern and classical literature, is inappropriately limited only to the field of children's books. The artist’s excellent drawings for the works of Pushkin, Nekrasov, Zoshchenko testify to the great successes of Russian graphics of the 30s. His works contributed to the establishment of the method of socialist realism.

The art of A. F. Pakhomov is distinguished by citizenship, modernity, and relevance. During the period of the most difficult trials of the Leningrad blockade, the artist did not interrupt his activities. Together with the art masters of the city on the Neva, he, as once in his youth during the Civil War, worked on assignments from the front. Pakhomov’s series of lithographs “Leningrad in the Days of the Siege,” one of the most significant creations of art during the war years, reveals the unparalleled valor and courage of the Soviet people.

The author of hundreds of lithographs, A.F. Pakhomov should be named among those enthusiastic artists who contributed to the development and dissemination of this type of printed graphics. The possibility of appealing to a wide range of viewers and the mass appeal of the circulation print attracted his attention.

His works are characterized by classical clarity and laconicism of visual means. The image of a person is his main goal. An extremely important aspect of the artist’s work, which connects him with classical traditions, is the desire for plastic expressiveness, which is clearly visible in his paintings, drawings, illustrations, prints, right up to his most recent works. He did this constantly and consistently.

A.F. Pakhomov is “a deeply original, great Russian artist, completely immersed in depicting the life of his people, but at the same time absorbing the achievements of world art. The work of A. F. Pakhomov, a painter and graphic artist, is a significant contribution to the development of Soviet artistic culture. /V.S. Matafonov/

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VLADIMIR VASILIEVICH LEBEDEV

14(26).05.1891, St. Petersburg - 21.11.1967, Leningrad

People's Artist of the RSFSR. Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Arts

He worked in St. Petersburg in the studio of F. A. Roubo and attended the school of drawing, painting and sculpture of M. D. Bernstein and L. V. Sherwood (1910-1914), studied in St. Petersburg at the Academy of Arts (1912-1914). Member of the Four Arts Society. Collaborated in the magazines "Satyricon" and "New Satyricon". One of the organizers Windows ROSTA" in Petrograd.