This artist proved his skill by creating paintings, designing performances in theaters, and as a graphic artist. But still, it was the illustrations for Yuri Vasnetsov’s fairy tales that gained special love and recognition from young readers. This became the main business of his life. We, former children, readers of books, remember this now, in which looking at the illustrations created by this artist was no less exciting than sorting out our first texts back then.
What do we know about the biography of Yuri Vasnetsov?
The artist's youth
The future artist was born in 1900 in the Russian town of Vyatki, in the family of a priest who served in the local cathedral. Distant family ties connected this family with other Vasnetsovs - artists Victor and Apollinaris, as well as Alexander Vasnetsov, a famous folklorist and collector of folk songs. Of course, such a family legacy could not but affect the artist’s future work.
Yuri Vasnetsov spent his entire childhood in Vyatka. A large number of handicraft workshops and artels operated in this provincial town. The crafts were very different - furniture, chests, toys. And Yuri’s mother herself was known in the area as an excellent embroiderer and lacemaker. Childhood impressions are the most vivid and they influence the formation of our ideas about the world, the memories that remain with us until the end of our days. Towels with embroidered roosters, boxes and chests painted in the Russian folk spirit, bright wooden and clay toys - rams, bears, horses, dolls... All these images made their way onto the pages of books with Vasnetsov’s famous “fairy-tale” illustrations for a reason.
Young Yuri really wanted to become an artist - so in 1921 he entered the Petrograd State Free Art Workshops (abbreviated as GSAM) in the painting department. Among Vasnetsov's teachers are Osip Braz, Alexander Savinov and even Russian avant-garde artists Kazimir Malevich and Mikhail Matyushin.
Working in a publishing house
After training, the artist began collaborating with the famous Detgiz, where, under the supervision of the painter and, by all accounts, an outstanding poster master, Vladimir Lebedev, he created his first masterpieces. Illustrations for the children's books “Swamp” and “The Little Humpbacked Horse,” as they say now, “made his name.” Following them, “Three Bears” by Leo Tolstoy, “Fables in the Faces”, “Ladushki”, “Rainbow-Arc”, designed by Yuri Vasnetsov, were published. At the same time, he created a series of paintings created using the so-called “flat printing technique” - children's lithographic prints on traditional folklore themes.
After a trip to the North in 1931, the artist Yuri Vasnetsov finally became firmly established in his chosen path. Already possessing all the skills of a master painter, he approached the study of folk origins even more carefully.
The phenomenon of painting by Yuri Vasnetsov
Having traveled to the Russian northern regions, the artist began to master new subtleties of craftsmanship. Then they started talking about the “phenomenon of Vasnetsov’s painting.” Here, for example, is one of the still lifes, with a large fish depicted on it: on an oblong, red tray lies a large fish with silver scales. The painting is stylistically executed in such a way that it is unclear whether it is a heraldic sign, or just a rug from the wall of a peasant hut. Red, black and silver-gray tones are contrasted, but at the same time balance each other in the overall artistic plane of the still life.
Highly appreciating both folk “bazaar” art and the canons of refined painting, by 1934 Yuri Vasnetsov created such paintings as “Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, etc. However, fearing the persecution that affected the creative workers of that time In connection with the campaign against formalism that had begun, Vasnetsov painted what is called “on the table,” making this part of his painting a secret and showing the paintings only to close people.
Only after his death at exhibitions did the works of Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov fully gain their fans. Then it became clear how great this man’s gift was - being an outstanding “children’s” artist, he was also a remarkable master of painting of the 20th century.
Illustration images
It is no coincidence that the artist later wrote that he always lived by what he remembered from childhood.
And so, almost in the same way as Vyatka toys, the artist “dresses” his heroes in an elegant and festive manner. Cats and goats, mothers of numerous families, wear skirts decorated with frills and lace in his illustrations. That's how they manage things. But the Bunny, offended by the Fox, the artist, probably out of compassion, put on a warm blouse for him. Bears and wolves, according to a logic that is quite understandable to all children, most often did not have clothing, because they were dangerous and predatory enemies to all other animals.
And here is an unusually kind cat:
The cat bought a pie
The cat went into the street
The cat bought a bun.
Do you have it yourself?
Or demolish Borenka?
I'll bite myself
Yes, I’ll demolish Borenka too.
In winter, the cat wears good-quality painted felt boots, a pink bow is tied around his neck, and the woman next to the walking cat noisily rejoices at his appearance, and the dog is in no hurry to bark. And even further away there are houses with snow-covered roofs, with burning windows, and smoke from the chimneys in a column straight into the sky - which means the weather is calm, windless, and clear.
How stupid it is to live in enmity! Here are two crows sitting, turned away from each other, ruffled, looking in different directions:
On the edge, on the barn
Two crows are sitting
Both look apart:
Because of a dead bug
We quarreled.
And the landscape surrounding these mean crows is not at all the same as in the other pictures. He is much more stingy with colors and there is clearly a lack of joy in him.
In the illustrations of Yuri Vasnetsov, a special world comes to life - cozy, kind, calm. And incredibly colorful. In such a world, any child, and maybe sometimes an adult, will want to linger longer, peering at its heroes, being charged with their spiritual generosity, living with them their albeit “gingerbread”, but such touching stories. At the same time, the animals drawn by Vasnetsov are not cloying, but mysterious. Some critics even believed that the artist painted “scary” pictures, scaring children.
And this is also very Russian: if you are scared, then you will tremble, if you are sad, then you will cry, and if you are happy, then it will certainly be a feast for the whole world.
Stylistics and color
The emotionality of Vasnetsov’s drawings is dictated primarily by color, which plays a decisive role in the perception of images. It is both decorative, which is generally characteristic of folk art, and poetic, which, in turn, distinguishes all the artist’s work.
Vasnetsov's illustrations are a color alphabet for a child. Everything is simple, like in a fairy tale: the wolf is gray, the bunny is white, the fox is red, etc. The artist actively uses the principle of what art critics call this technique, the “magic lantern.” The action takes place on a certain, necessarily festive, bright background color (red, yellow, blue, etc.). This environment in which the characters communicate is compositional in itself, and at the same time it is that new bright spot that is so necessary for children who turn the next page in anticipation of new impressions.
In conclusion
A book, especially in children's hands, is a cheap and perishable commodity. Who among us in childhood did not have “The Boat Sails and Sails”, illustrated by Konashevich? Or the famous "Baggage" with drawings by Lebedev? And Vasnetsov’s “Rainbow Arc” with wonderful animals is completely impossible to forget. But who has “survived” these books to this day? Probably only a very few. But these were well-made, beautifully designed, and presented in a convenient large format for children's books. And those who still have them know very well how today’s children perceive them. Yes, just like adults did many years ago - with joy and admiration.
Several generations of young readers have already grown up on Vasnetsov’s bright, witty and entertaining illustrations, and the artist himself was called a classic of children’s book illustrations during his lifetime.
Vasnetsov Yuri Alekseevich (1900-1973)- graphic artist, painter, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1966). Studied at the Academy of Arts (1921-26) with A.E. Kareva, K.S. Petrova-Vodkina, N.A. Tyrsa.
Vasnetsov's work is inspired by the poetics of Russian folklore. The most famous are illustrations for Russian fairy tales, songs, riddles (“Three Bears” by L. N. Tolstoy, 1930; collection “Miracle Ring”, 1947; “Fables in Faces”, 1948; “Ladushki”, 1964; “Rainbow- arc", 1969, State Ave. USSR, 1971). He created individual color lithographs (“Teremok”, 1943; “Zaykina’s hut”, 1948).
After Vasnetsov’s death, his exquisite pictorial stylizations in the spirit of the primitive became known (“Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, 1932-1934)
Word to the artist Vasnetsov Yu.A.
- “I am so grateful to Vyatka - my homeland, my childhood - I saw the beauty!” (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
- “I remember spring in Vyatka. The streams are flowing, so stormy, like waterfalls, and we, guys, are launching boats... In the spring, a fun fair opened - Whistling. The fair is elegant and fun. And what not! Clay dishes, pots, jars, jugs. Homespun tablecloths with all sorts of patterns... I really loved Vyatka toys made of clay, wood, plaster horses, cockerels - everything was interesting in color. The carousels at the fair are all covered in beads, all in sparkles - geese, horses, strollers, and always an accordion plays" (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
- “Draw, write what you love. Look around you more... You can’t explain everything terribly, or draw it out. When a lot of something has been done and drawn, then naturalism appears. Here, let's say, a flower. Take it, but rework it - let it be a flower, but different. Chamomile - and not chamomile. I like forget-me-nots for their blueness, with a yellow spot in the middle. Lilies of the valley... When I smell them, it seems to me that I am a king..." (Vasnetsov Yu.V. From advice to young artists)
- (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
- “In my drawings I try to show a corner of the beautiful world of our native Russian fairy tale, which instills in children a deep love for the people, for our Motherland and its generous nature” (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
- When asked what was the most expensive gift he received, the artist answered: “Life. Life given to me"
Yuri Vasnetsov was born on April 4, 1900 in the ancient city of Vyatka, in the family of a priest. Both his grandfather and his father’s brothers belonged to the clergy. Yu.A. Vasnetsov was distantly related to Victor and Apollinary Vasnetsov. The large family of Father Alexy Vasnetsov lived in a two-story house next to the cathedral, in which the priest served. Yura loved this temple very much - the cast-iron tiles of its floor, rough so that the foot would not slip, the huge bell, the oak staircase that led to the top of the bell tower...
The artist absorbed his love for colorful folk culture in his old native Vyatka: “I still live by what I saw and remembered in childhood.”
The entire Vyatka province was famous for its handicrafts: furniture, chests, lace, and toys. And Mother Maria Nikolaevna herself was a noble lacemaker and embroiderer, famous in the city. The towels embroidered with roosters, painted boxes, multi-colored clay and wooden horses, lambs in bright pants, lady dolls - “painted from the heart, from the soul” will remain in the memory of little Yura for the rest of his life.
As a boy, he himself painted the walls of his room, shutters and stoves in his neighbors' houses with bright patterns, flowers, horses and fantastic animals and birds. He knew and loved Russian folk art, and this later helped him draw his amazing illustrations for fairy tales. And the costumes that were worn in his native northern regions, and the festive dresses of horses, and wooden carvings on windows and porches of huts, and painted spinning wheels and embroidery - everything that he saw from an early age was useful to him for fairy-tale drawings. Even as a child, he enjoyed all kinds of manual labor. He sewed boots and bound books, loved to skate and fly kites. Vasnetsov’s favorite word was “interesting.”
After the revolution, all families of priests, including the Vasnetsov family (mother, father and six children), were literally evicted to the streets. “... My father no longer served in the cathedral, which was closed... and he didn’t serve anywhere at all... He would have cheated and resigned his rank, but it was then that his meek firmness of spirit was revealed: he continued to walk in a cassock, with a pectoral cross and long hair,” recalled Yuri Alekseevich. The Vasnetsovs wandered around strange corners and soon bought a small house. Then we had to sell it, we lived in a former bathhouse...
Yuri went to seek his fortune in Petrograd in 1921. He dreamed of becoming an artist. Miraculously, he entered the painting department of the State Art Academy of Arts (later Vkhutemas); successfully completed his studies in 1926.
His teachers were the bustling capital Petrograd itself with its European palaces and the Hermitage full of world treasures. They were followed by a long line of many and varied teachers who opened the world of painting to the young provincial. Among them were the academically trained Osip Braz, Alexander Savinov, the leaders of the Russian avant-garde - the “flower artist” Mikhail Matyushin, the Suprematist Kazimir Malevich. And in the “formalistic” works of the 1920s, the individual characteristics of Vasnetsov’s pictorial language testified to the extraordinary talent of the novice artist.
In search of income, the young artist began to collaborate with the department of children's and youth literature of the State Publishing House, where, under the artistic direction of V.V. Lebedeva happily found himself in the interpretation of themes and images of Russian folklore - fairy tales in which his natural craving for humor, grotesque and good irony was best satisfied.
In the 1930s He became famous for his illustrations for the books “Swamp”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Fifty Little Pigs” by K.I. Chukovsky, “Three Bears” by L.I. Tolstoy. At the same time, he made excellent - elegant and fascinating - lithographic prints for children, based on the same plot motifs.
The artist made amazing illustrations for Leo Tolstoy’s fairy tale “The Three Bears”. The big, scary, enchanted forest and the bear's hut are too big for a little lost girl. And the shadows in the house are also dark and eerie. But then the girl ran away from the bears, and the forest immediately brightened in the drawing. This is how the artist conveyed a major mood with paints. It’s interesting to watch how Vasnetsov dresses his characters. Elegant and festive - the nurse mother-Goat, mother-Cat. He will definitely give them colorful skirts with frills and lace. And he will take pity on the bunny who was offended by the Fox and put on a warm jacket. The artist tried not to dress up the wolves, bears, foxes that interfere with the lives of good animals: they did not deserve beautiful clothes.
Thus, continuing to search for his path, the artist entered the world of children's books. Purely formal searches gradually gave way to folk culture. The artist increasingly looked back into his “Vyatka” world.
A trip to the North in 1931 finally convinced him of the correctness of his chosen path. He turned to folk sources, already being experienced in the intricacies of modern pictorial language, which gave rise to the phenomenon that we can now call the phenomenon of Yuri Vasnetsov’s painting. The still life with a large fish fully demonstrates new bright trends in Vasnetsov’s works.
On a small red tray, crossing it diagonally, lies a large fish sparkling with silver scales. The unique composition of the painting is akin to a heraldic sign and at the same time a folk rug on the wall of a peasant hut. Using a dense viscous mass of paint, the artist achieves amazing persuasiveness and authenticity of the image. The external contrasts of the planes of red, ocher, black and silver-gray are tonally balanced and give the work the feeling of a monumental painting.
So, book illustrations constituted only one side of his work. The main goal of Vasnetsov’s life was always painting, and he pursued this goal with fanatical tenacity: he worked independently, studied under the guidance of K.S. Malevich in Ginkhuk, studied in graduate school at the All-Russian Academy of Arts.
In 1932-34. he finally created several works (“Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, etc.), in which he showed himself to be a very important master who successfully combined the refined pictorial culture of his time with the tradition of folk “bazaar” art, which he appreciated and loved. But this late self-discovery coincided with the campaign against formalism that began then. Fearing ideological persecution (which had already affected his book graphics), Vasnetsov made painting a secret activity and showed it only to close people. In his landscapes and still lifes, emphatically unpretentious in their motives and extremely sophisticated in their pictorial form, he achieved impressive results, uniquely reviving the traditions of Russian primitivism. But these works were practically unknown to anyone.
During the war years, spent first in Molotov (Perm), then in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), where he was the chief artist of the Institute of Toys, Vasnetsov performed poetic illustrations for “English folk songs” by S.Ya. Marshak (1943), and then to his own book “Cat House” (1947). New success was brought to him by illustrations for the folklore collections “The Miracle Ring” (1947) and “Fables in Faces” (1948). Vasnetsov worked unusually intensively, varying the themes and images dear to him many times. The well-known collections “Ladushki” (1964) and “Rainbow-Arc” (1969) became a unique result of his many years of activity.
In Vasnetsov’s bright, entertaining and witty drawings, Russian folklore found perhaps the most organic embodiment; more than one generation of young readers grew up on them, and during his lifetime he himself was recognized as a classic in the field of children’s books. In a Russian folk tale, everything is unexpected, unknown, incredible. If you are scared, then you will tremble; if you are joyful, then it is a feast for the whole world. So the artist makes his drawings for the book “Rainbow-Arc” bright and festive - sometimes the page is blue with a bright rooster, sometimes it’s red, and on it is a brown bear with a birch staff.
The artist's difficult life left an indelible mark on his relationships with people. Usually trusting and gentle in character, already being married, he became unsociable. He never exhibited as an artist, never performed anywhere, citing the upbringing of his two daughters, one of whom, the eldest, Elizaveta Yuryevna, would later become a famous artist.
Leaving home and family, even for a short time, was a tragedy for him. Any separation from the family was unbearable, and the day when they had to set off was a ruined day.
Before leaving the house, Yuri Alekseevich even shed a tear from grief and melancholy, but still did not forget to put some gift or cute trinket under everyone’s pillow. Even friends gave up on this homebody - a man for great art has disappeared!
Until his old age, Yuri Alekseevich’s favorite reading remained fairy tales. And my favorite pastimes are painting still lifes and landscapes with oil paints, illustrating fairy tales, and in the summer fishing on the river, always with a fishing rod.
Only a few years after the artist’s death, his paintings were shown to viewers at an exhibition at the State Russian Museum (1979), and it became clear that Vasnetsov was not only an excellent book graphic artist, but also one of the outstanding Russian painters of the 20th century.
Designing a children's book has always been and will be the most serious test for illustrators because of the incorruptible honesty of little critics. And the highest assessment of the artists’ creativity becomes the recognition of their illustrations, which the memory will keep from childhood, when emotions and first impressions had not yet been erased by life experience. April 4 marks the birthday of the artist who made the meeting with the book unforgettable for the child - Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov. Read about the work of the “fairy-tale” artist in our article.
The first day of April sets a major tone for the whole month—April Fool's Day. On April 2, the world celebrates International Children's Book Day - a holiday without an age limit (after all, “we all come from childhood”), with an obligatory smile, warmth in the chest and a heap of childhood memories. And April 4 marks the birthday of the artist, who made the meeting with the book unforgettable for the child— Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov(1900-1973). The creator of the magical world of fairy-tale images, so close and understandable to a child (after all, his drawings of animals and birds are so similar to toys), the artist was recognized as a classic in the field of children's books during his lifetime. Yuri Alekseevich, whose favorite reading until old age was fairy tales, defined the main task of his work as follows: “In my drawings I try to show a corner of the beautiful world of my native Russian fairy tale, which instills in children a deep love for the people, for our Motherland and its generous nature.”
Yu. A. Vasnetsov
"Fairytale" artist Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov born on April 4, 1900 in Vyatka in the family of a priest, where his grandfather and brothers were also of the clergy. Family Yuri Alekseevich was distantly related to the famous Russian painters Victor and Apollinarius Vasnetsov, and another relative, folklorist Alexander Vasnetsov, collected more than 350 folk songs of northern Russia. This fact says a lot - both about the atmosphere in the family and about its “genetic” talent.
Illustration for the fairy tale by P.P. Ershov “The Little Humpbacked Horse” Yu. Vasnetsov
The Vyatka province earned its fame, first of all, for its handicrafts: toy, lace, furniture and chest making. Maria Nikolaevna, the artist’s mother, was a famous embroiderer and lacemaker in Vyatka. Such a cultural family heritage, a folk, as the artist himself said, “bazaar” cultural environment became fertile ground for the development of his talent. And the talent was truly multifaceted (vector of activity Jura was defined by the word “interesting!”): the boy sewed boots, bound books, painted the walls of his room, the shutters and stoves of his neighbors with intricate patterns and fantastic animals characteristic of folk art. Already at that time, his source of inspiration was folk art and folklore traditions. Later, the honored artist admitted:
“I still live what I saw and remembered as a child.”
Illustration for the fairy tale “The Three Bears” Yu. Vasnetsov
To the delight of many generations of children, the love of drawing took over: young Yuri Vasnetsov decided to become a professional artist. Logic suggested what to do next: in 1921. Yuri Alekseevich came to Petrograd and entered the painting department of the State Art Museum, which he successfully graduated in 1926. This was a time when society generated new revolutionary ideas, and Petrograd became an incubator of revolutionary artistic ideas. Among the Petrograd teachers of the young Vasnetsova were: the Russian “Cezanist” Osip Braz, the Russian “impressionist” A. Karev, Alexander Savinov, the leaders of the Russian avant-garde—Mikhail Matyushin and the Suprematist Kazimir Malevich. The question of what has been achieved Yu. Vasnetsov in painting, remained open for a long time. The individual characteristics of the master’s pictorial language (the artist sought to revive the traditions of Russian primitivism) in his “formalistic” works of the 1920s testify to his extraordinary talent as a painter.
"Lady with a Mouse" Yu. Vasnetsov
The campaign against formalism that began then, Yuri Alekseevich quite rightly perceived it as a warning (ideological persecution had already affected his book graphics) and transferred painting to the category of a hobby, which he trusted only to his family and close artist friends. His works (mainly landscapes and still lifes) were practically unknown to anyone and only after the artist’s death received worthy recognition at a personal exhibition at the State Russian Museum in 1979.
Book graphics have become a worthy alternative to painting. The young artist began to successfully collaborate with the department of children's and youth literature of the State Publishing House under the leadership of V.V. Lebedev. Yuri Alekseevich’s success was in his personal qualities, in his rich imagination, the direct consequence of which was a creative interpretation of the theme of images of Russian folklore—fairy tales. Already in the 1930s, Yu. Vasnetsov became a famous and recognizable illustrator of children's fairy tales by V. Bianki (“Swamp”), P. Ershov (“The Little Humpbacked Horse”), K. Chukovsky (“Confusion,” “Fifty Little Pigs”), L.N. Tolstoy (“Three Bears”) and the author of funny lithographic prints for children on the same fairy-tale themes. A trip to the North in 1931 confirmed the correctness of the chosen path. An appeal to folk origins, the successful combination of refined painting with the traditions of folk art gave rise to the phenomenon of “fairytale” painting by Yu. Vasnetsov, when illustrations acquire paramount importance, subordinating the text.
Illustrations Yu. Vasnetsova
In illustrations Yu. Vasnetsova color plays the main role, and this is a find that still has no equal. Color becomes the first alphabet—“color”—which the child easily and joyfully masters: wolf—gray, fox—red, goose—white. And to create the emotional mood of the drawings and enhance the perception of images, the artist uses background color. This artistic technique, when color becomes the medium of the action taking place, is called the “magic lantern principle.” Constantly focusing on his “Vyatka” world, the artist gave his fairy-tale characters special expressiveness, dressing them in the costumes of his northern region: the kind Mama Goat and Mama Cat in elegant colored skirts with lace, the offended Bunny “warmed up” with a warm jacket. And, helping the kids to place the accents correctly, he left the evil wolf, fox and bear without clothes.
Illustration for the fairy tale “Three Bears” by Yu. Vasnetsov
Book graphics, although his most beloved, constituted only one facet of his work. During the war years, first in Molotov, and then in Zagorsk, Yu.A. Vasnetsov was the chief artist of the Institute of Toys, taught at the Leningrad School of Fine Arts, created costumes and scenery for performances based on A. Gorky's plays for Leningrad theaters. In 1971, the animated film “Terem-Teremok” was created based on drawings Yu. A. Vasnetsova. The artist's work was highly appreciated, he was awarded the titles: Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1946), People's Artist of the RSFSR (1966) and laureate of the USSR State Prize (1971).
But the artist’s highest reward remains the grateful memory of his descendants.
Biography
Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov (1900-1973) - Russian artist, illustrator, graphic artist and painter. Born into the family of a priest, there were many famous painters and artists in the family - Appolinary Vasnetsov, who mainly depicts historical subjects in his canvases, Viktor Vasnetsov - who has not seen his famous “Bogatyrs”! — also, among distant relatives was Alexander Vasnetsov, a folklorist who collected and published more than 350 songs of the Russian people, mainly from northern Russia. Such a cultural family heritage could not but affect the descendant and was reflected in his further work, where folklore traditions, humor and the grotesque merged together.
From his youth, Yuri Vasnetsov connected his life with illustrating children's books. In 1928, he began collaborating with the magnificent publishing house “Detgiz”, which later reorganized into the no less famous “Children’s Literature”. He designed a large number of children's books - “Swamp”, “Cat House” and “Teremok”, “Stolen Sun” and “Confusion” and many others. In parallel with illustration, he taught fine arts at a Leningrad school, drew postcards, designed costumes and scenery for Leningrad theaters, and painted. In 1971, based on his drawings, the animated film “Terem-Teremok” was shot.
When I was a child, my mother read all the books and fairy tales to me. And the nanny too. The fairy tale entered me...
The publishing house gives me the text. I take the one I like. And sometimes there is no fairy tale in it. It happens that it is only four or even two lines, and you can’t make a fairy tale out of them. And I’m looking for a fairy tale... I always remember who the book will be for.
Buy books with illustrations by Yuri Vasnetsov
Pictures
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Name Rainbow-arc
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Name Wolf and kids
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Name Ruff kids
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Name Spikelet
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Name Cat
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Name Never-before-seen
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Name Naughty kid
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Name Tom Thumb
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Name Fox and mouse
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Name Rainbow
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Name Swamp
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Conversations
“Neskuchny Garden”, 01.2008
Extremely generalized, condensed images were instantly recognized and accepted as family - by both children and adults. It was clear that these were our heroes, Russians from toe to toe. But not epic ones, but living somewhere nearby. Looking at us from under a bush the way the sad top looks at us from “The Tale of Tales” - sensitively and intently.
“Young Artist”, No. 12.1979
Rarely does anyone manage to carry childhood impressions throughout their lives the way Vasnetsov did. The artist has not lost his direct perception of nature over the years; vividly recalled folk holidays. “As if in reality I remember everything!.. I remember everything so, apparently, I looked at it for a reason - I penetrated into everything, and for a reason. But I regret that not everything remained in my memory, I didn’t look at everything carefully. I should have looked more... A lot of things were uniquely beautiful!” - these words show the wisdom of the old master, the openness of his soul to the beauty of life. Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov was a happy man, because he rejoiced in his childhood and brought this joy into his works; his joy and happiness became the property of other people - adults and children.
Events
17.03.2014
As part of the Children's Book Days, the exhibition “Artists of Pre-War DETGIZ” opens at the Library of Book Graphics in St. Petersburg on March 20 at 19.00. The exhibition presents illustrations, sketches, prints, lithographs, covers, and books by the masters of book graphics of the pre-war period.
Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov (1900-1973) - Russian Soviet artist; painter, graphic artist, theater artist, illustrator. Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1971).
Born on March 22 (April 4), 1900 (old style) in the family of a priest in Vyatka (now Kirov region). His father served in the Vyatka Cathedral. A distant relative of the artists A. M. Vasnetsov and V. M. Vasnetsov and the folklorist A. M. Vasnetsov. From his youth, and throughout his life, he was friendly with the artists Evgeny Charushin, who were born in Vyatka and later lived in St. Petersburg.
In 1919 he graduated from the Second Level Unified School (formerly the Vyatka First Men's Gymnasium).
In 1921 he moved to Petrograd. He entered the painting department of Vkhutein, then PGSKHUM, where he studied for five years, with teachers A.E. Karev, A.I. Savinov. Vasnetsov wanted to be a painter, and sought to acquire all the skills necessary to work in painting. From the experience of his teachers, Vasnetsov did not adopt anything that would influence him as a painter - with the exception of the influence of M. V. Matyushin, with whom he did not directly study, but was familiar with him through his artist friends N. I. Kostrov , V. I. Kurdova, O. P. Vaulina. Through them, he gained an understanding of Matyushin’s theory and became acquainted with the “organic” trend in Russian art, which was closest to his natural talent.
In 1926, at VKHUTEIN, the course in which the artist studied was graduated without defending a diploma. In 1926-27 For some time he taught fine arts at Leningrad school No. 33.
In 1926-1927 together with the artist V.I. Kurdov, he continued his studies in painting at GINKHUK under K.S. Malevich. He was accepted into the Department of Painting Culture, headed by Malevich. He studied the plasticity of cubism, the properties of various pictorial textures, and created “material selections” - “counter-reliefs”. The artist spoke about the time of his work at GINKHUK: “All the time the eye was developing, form, construction. I liked to achieve materiality, texture of objects, color. See the color! Vasnetsov’s work and training with K. S. Malevich at GINKHUK lasted about two years; During this time, the artist studied the meaning of pictorial textures, the role of contrast in the construction of form, and the laws of plastic space.
Paintings made by Vasnetsov during this period: counter-relief “Still Life with a Chessboard”, 1926-1927; “Cubist composition”, 1926-28, “Composition with a trumpet” 1926-1928; "Still life. In Malevich's workshop" 1927-1928; “Composition with a violin” 1929, and others.
In 1928, the art editor of the Detgiz publishing house, V.V. Lebedev, invited Vasnetsov to work on a children's book. The first books illustrated by Vasnetsov were “Karabash” (1929) and “Swamp” by V. V. Bianchi (1930)
Vasnetsov’s design was used repeatedly in mass editions of many books for children - “Confusion” (1934) and “The Stolen Sun” (1958) by K. I. Chukovsky, “Three Bears” by L. N. Tolstoy (1935), “Teremok” (1941) and “Cat's House” (1947) by S. Ya. Marshak, “English folk songs” translated by S. Ya. Marshak (1945), “Cat, Rooster and Fox. Russian fairy tale" (1947) and many others. Illustrated “The Little Humpbacked Horse” by P. P. Ershov, books for children by D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, A. A. Prokofiev and other publications. Vasnetsov's children's books have become classics of Soviet book art.
In the summer of 1931, together with his Vyatka relative, artist N.I. Kostrov, he made a creative trip to the White Sea, to the village of Soroki. Created a series of paintings and graphic works “Karelia”.
In 1932 he became a member of the Leningrad branch of the Union of Soviet Artists.
In 1934 he married the artist Galina Mikhailovna Pinaeva, and in 1937 and 1939 his two daughters, Elizaveta and Natalya, were born.
In 1932, he entered graduate school at the painting department of the All-Russian Academy of Arts, where he studied for three years. In the thirties, Vasnetsov's painting achieved high skill and acquired an original, unique character, not similar to the work of artists close to him. His painting of this time is compared with the works of V. M. Ermolaeva and P. I. Sokolov - in the strength and quality of painting, in the organic element of color: “Vasnetsov preserved and increased the achievements of the original national pictorial culture.”
In 1932-1935. Vasnetsov painted the canvases “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, “Miracle Yudo Fish Whale” and other works. In some of these works - “Lady with a Mouse”, “Church Warden” - an image of merchant-philistine Russia, well known to the artist, appears, comparable to the images of merchants’ women in A. Ostrovsky and B. Kustodiev. Some researchers (E. D. Kuznetsov, E. F. Kovtun) consider these works to be the peak achievements in the artist’s work
In 1936, he designed costumes and sets for the play based on M. Gorky’s play “The Bourgeois” for the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad. In 1938-40. worked in the experimental lithographic workshop at the Leningrad Union of Artists. Author of greeting cards (1941-1945).
Vasnetsov's pre- and post-war style in book graphics was created under the pressure of ideological circumstances.
“Having survived the persistent pressure of socialist realism, Vasnetsov replaced it with a style associated with Russian folk art, or so it was believed, although there was a lot of market sample in it. Some stylization turned out to be acceptable. Understandable and not related to formalism, it was not perceived conventionally .. Folk, market embroidery. All this, together with a real landscape, gradually freed him from the nickname of a formalist.
In 1941 he was a member of the group of artists and poets “Combat Pencil”. At the end of 1941 he was evacuated to Perm (Molotov). In 1943 he moved from Perm to Zagorsk. He worked as the chief artist of the Toy Research Institute. Created a series of landscapes of Zagorsk. At the end of 1945 he returned to Leningrad.
In 1946 he received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
In the summer of 1946 he created a number of landscapes of Sosnovo, in 1947-1948. - Melnichny Ruchey, in 1949-1950. Siverskaya, in 1955 - Mereva (near Luga), in 1952 he painted a number of Crimean landscapes, in 1953-54. paints Estonian landscapes. Since 1959, he annually travels to his dacha in Roshchino and writes views of the surrounding area.
From 1961 until the end of his life he lived in house No. 16 on Pesochnaya Embankment in St. Petersburg.
In 1966 he received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.
In 1971, Vasnetsov was awarded the USSR State Prize for two collections of Russian folk tales, songs, and riddles, Ladushki and Rainbow-Duga. In the same year, the cartoon “Terem-Teremok” was filmed based on his drawings.
Paintings from the 1960s and 70s. - mainly landscapes and still lifes (“Still life with willow”, “Blossoming meadow”, “Roshchino. Cinema “Smena”). Throughout his life, Vasnetsov worked in painting, but due to accusations of formalism, he did not exhibit his works. They were presented at exhibitions only after his death.