Exhibition "Book illustration of the 1930s - 1990s from the collection of the State Museum and Exhibition Center

The State Museum and Exhibition Center "ROSIZO" and the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Moscow Region "New Jerusalem" celebrate the Year of Literature by showing a chamber exhibition of book graphics. The exposition, spanning six decades, contains works by the leading figures of artistic illustration: Savva Brodsky, Nicky Goltz, Evgeni Kibrik, Andrei Kostin, Myud Mechev, May Miturich-Khlebnikov, Viktor Chizhikov and others. The purpose of the exhibition is to show the significance of the heritage accumulated by domestic art in the field of graphic design of books and book publishing.

Chizhikov V.A. 1935. Illustration for the fairy tale K. Chukovsky "Doctor Aibolit." Pull it. 1975. For the book of the publishing house "Kid", 1976

Golts N.G. 1925 - 2012. Illustration for the novel E.T.A. Hoffmann "Meister Martin - Bochar and his apprentices." 1978. For the book "The Golden Pot and Other Stories", publishing house "Children’s Literature", 1981

The USSR was called the most reading country, publishing was an important area of culture, and serious and talented authors, both venerable and beginners, were involved in the design of books. Book graphics were considered a kind of elite art community. They were characterized by a high professional culture, possession of an entire arsenal of technical techniques, and the ability to simultaneously be an experimenter and a subtle stylist. Work with literary texts, with the author’s worlds of writers from different eras and countries required erudition, knowledge of world literature and the history of art.

Brodsky S.G. 1923-1982. Illustration for the book by Pedro Antonio Alarcon “The Triangular Hat”. For the 65th volume of the Library of World Literature, publishing house Fiction, 1976

The exhibition, which includes more than 100 sheets, outlined a wide range of illustrated books produced in the Soviet Union. These are Russian and foreign classics - both prose and poetry, requiring special delicacy from the artist; Old Russian epic, literature of the peoples of the USSR, modern science fiction. Separate are publications for children and young people, extremely diverse in genres.

The book is a single graphic ensemble, the tradition of its creation is in every country. We remember that the ancient books were handwritten - not only scribes worked on them, but also artists who decorated the pages with ornaments and miniatures. Turning to illustrating the works of ancient Russian literature, our contemporaries reproduced ancient techniques. At the exhibition, fragments of two cycles: in the illustrations of Alexei Shmarinov, legendary plots from Russian military history are presented in a generalized manner of Old Russian miniatures. Myud Mechev’s works for the annals of “The Tale of Bygone Years” seem to be made on gilded, silvered or purple leather, and remind of the original material of the book pages - parchment.

Shmarinov A.D. 1933. Illustration for "The Life of A. Nevsky." Battle on the Ice. 1978-1979. For the book “On the Kulikovo Field: Tales of Russian Chronicles and Military Tales of the XIII-XV Centuries”, publishing house “Young Guard”, 1980

Large sheets of May Miturich to the fables of I. Krylov also remind of the manuscript book. They are directly related to the tradition of the Russian avant-garde - a handwritten and lithographed book of the 1920s, where the letters and graphics of the text created the energy of the page. Laconic, conventional, but easily recognizable witty images of Miturich open a vivid section of the exhibition dedicated to the children’s book.

Many artists associated creativity with a book for children: a kind of oasis, it gave the greatest freedom of expression and freedom of imagination. In an effort to make the object book closer to their discerning audience, they used colored pencils, watercolors, enlivened the pages with bright spots and free composition, and used the style of children’s drawings. The masters who had already left and are now working with great fiction approached: Viktor Chizhikov (born 1935), Vladimir Vagin (born 1937), Alexander Vasin (1915-1971), Nika Golts (1925-2012), Boris Dekhterev )1908-1993), Fedor Lemkul (1914-1995), Anatoly Olin (born 1951). Their works based on Russian and foreign fairy tales, fantastic stories E.-T.-A. Hoffmann, R.E. Raspe and A. Pogorelsky, the historical prose of M. Twain and the tales of O. Wilde convey the ingenuity and horizons of artists and illustrators of literature for children and adolescents.

Vagin V.V. Rod 1937. Illustration for the Russian folk tale "Go there, I don’t know where." 1983. For the book “Marvelous. Russian folk tales "A.N. Afanasyev. Publisher "Contemporary", 1988

Olin A. G. Rod. 1951. Illustration for the book of R.E. Raspe "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen." 1987

The artists are equally responsible for the search for visible correspondences with the works of classical literature - the images should be convincing and memorable. No matter how diligently the author of the drawings follows the text, he always gives freedom of his imagination.

The imagined retrospective of Russian illustration is opened at the exhibition by the classic of Soviet book graphics Evgeny Kibrik (1906–1978): lithographs to the stories of N.V. Gogol and R. Rollan. The artist painted his characters in an energetic and plastic manner, invented stage scenes and generalized portraits with dramatically expressive facial expressions. Before us is a kind of cinema on paper, where close-ups are replaced by mass scenes. The design in 1934 of the French novelty “Cola Bruyon” became the standard work of Kibrick, a masterpiece of Russian art.

Kibrik E.A. 1906-1978. Illustration to the story of N.V. Gogol’s "Portrait". "" What to do with them? "He thought." 1977. For the book of the publishing house "Fiction", 1979

A similar method in the design of the classics is demonstrated by Savva Brodsky. For the famous in the 1970s 200-volume series "Library of World Literature", he illustrated the volume of works by writers of Spain. Ilya Bogdesko also presents in his engravings both solid characters and climax scenes - a dramatic beginning is important in works of this kind. But the exhibition also shows other creative solutions. Boris Zaborov chose the conditional and static manner of depiction for the story of F. Dostoyevsky “Krotkaya” - the black background, the statuary of poses and the isolation of the figures emphasize the internal drama of what is happening. The artist Andrei Kostin (1947-2000) - one of the most serious masters of book and magazine illustration - with sophisticated psychologism and expressiveness, he designed L. Tolstoy’s Holstomer - his small etchings resemble old engravings, a slightly angular drawing conveys the tragedy of events.

Bogdesko I.T. 1923-2010. Illustration to the satire of E. Rotterdam "Praise of stupidity." Monk. 1990

Zaborov B.A. Rod. 1935. Illustration for the story of F.M. Dostoevsky "The Meek". Prologue. 1976. For a book by the Dresden Art Publishing House, 1978

Of particular note is the illustration of poetry books. In the woodcuts of Fyodor Konstantinov to the “Demon” by M. Lermontov and short stories by the English classic J. Chaucer, verses come together with verses in large and small forms - from a picture on a whole page to a miniature screen saver. The autolithographs of Nikolai Voronkov to Sergey Yesenin’s poems also belong to small forms - however, in small drawings we see illustrations for significant texts, such as the poem Anna Snegina or the poem Black Man. Created in the mid-1980s, the work of Andrei Dugin to F. Schiller’s collection “Cup. Selected Lyrics ”are distinguished by sophistication of stylization.

Colorful, fascinating “picture books” read in childhood contribute to the formation of ideals, lay the foundations of personal taste in both literature and art. Often a person carries these ideals through his whole life, and the magnificent works of artists forever remain in his memory. Many viewers will feel at the exhibition the excitement of meeting their childhood or the memory of what they saw behind the book cover of the world.

The exhibition opened in the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Moscow Region "New Jerusalem" from September 1, 2015. Tuesday-Sunday from 10 to 18.

Lemkul F.V. 1914-1995. Illustration for the historical novel by M. Twain “The Prince and the Pauper”. U-turn "With torches." 1979. For the book “The Prince and the Pauper,” Moscow Worker Publishing House

Dekhterev B.A. 1908-1993. Illustration for A. Pogorelsky’s fairy tale "Black Chicken". 1990. The hunt for rats. For the book "Magic Tales", publishing house "Children’s Literature"., 1992

Dugin A.V. Rod 1955. Illustration for F. Schiller’s collection “Cup. Selected Lyrics. " 1985. For the book of the publishing house "Children’s Literature", 1986

Kostin A.L. 1947-2000. Illustration for the story of A. Tolstoy "Strider". Holstomer, 1978. Publishing House "Book", 1979

Miturich-Khlebnikov M.P. 1925-2008. Illustration for I. Krylov’s fable “Elephant and Pug”. 1986