In general, we can talk about Zarubin and his work ad infinitum. For modern generation, born after 1990, his name is little known. But those who care will easily remember his colorful postcards, which the citizens of the great country so loved to give each other during the Soviet Union. The Internet, as you understand, in those distant times was only in the projects of the American military, so the paper industry of the country of the Soviets worked, among other things, to create miniature masterpieces For postal items. However, let's take it in order.
Vladimir Zarubin was born in 1925 in the village of Andriyanovka, Oryol region, into the family of a road engineer. Due to the specific nature of his father’s work, the family of the future artist constantly wandered around the country and the beginning of the war found them in the city of Lisichansk. The Germans who occupied the city drove Vladimir and other teenagers to Germany to a labor camp near the Ruhr, where he had to work until his liberation allied forces in 1945... After that, Zarubin joined the Army, but from then on his favorite pastime was drawing. After demobilization, he went to work at a factory in Moscow where he met his future wife. His love for drawing led Zarubin to take courses for animators, after which he devoted himself entirely to his favorite pastime. Zarubin worked in many genres visual arts, but was most remembered for the creation of his signature Soviet animation characters. It was he who participated in the creation of the first issues" Wait for it!", "Bremen Town Musicians"(remember the Ingenious Detective?), Mowgli and more than a hundred animated films!
Zarubin also tried his hand at publishing, having worked in Crocodile, Baby and other magazines. Work in the studio was very nervous and tense, and the artist’s health deteriorated. That’s when Vladimir Zarubin found himself in a postal miniature - it was in this that he became most famous and became recognizable among millions of compatriots. This was facilitated by his own style images of animals, which were appreciated at the Marka publishing center. Remember, you probably still have a postcard at home with a cheerful hare, hedgehog or bear. But now these postcards have a collector's value! If earlier some of the master’s works were not accepted at bad councils for some far-fetched reasons, then in last years life, all his “notched” sketches were embodied on paper. Even in Lent Soviet time the artist worked on the design of postcards, although his relationship with a private publishing house did not go well, which was the reason for his tragic death...
Now Vladimir Zarubin's postcards are in demand among philocartist collectors. Some of his works were produced in very small editions and collecting a complete collection of more than several hundred of his miniatures is considered great luck. Although, you yourself can easily find a couple of postcards with his animals in your old chest of drawers, because once upon a time giving postcards by mail was as natural as writing letters by e-mail now.
Here are some of the artist's works. The rest you can find on websites specifically dedicated to works Zarubina
One of early works together with S. Rusakov
Bears, hares, hedgehogs - business card Zarubina
Among the artist's postcards there are quite a few rare specimens. If the circulation of many postcards was 5-20 million copies (!!!), then there are also very “small” ones - 50-100 thousand.
In Soviet times, such useful bookmarks were produced for textbooks.
Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin is a wonderful Soviet animator who also worked talentedly and fruitfully in the genre of postal miniatures.The bright author's style of Vladimir Ivanovich is unmistakably recognizable to anyone who has seen his postcards at least several times. All of us, “born in the USSR,” all of our families received from different corners countries postcards with incomparable and charming bunnies, squirrels, bear cubs and hedgehogs. Each card contains a sweet little scene with carefully drawn details. Each face has its own expression that corresponds to the plot. They look like they're alive. This is probably why we love V.I.’s works so much. Zarubina.
About the artist:
Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin (08/07/1925 – 06/21/1996)
Born in the village of Andriyanovka, Oryol region. Participated in the Great Patriotic War. According to the story of his son, at the beginning of the war he lived with his parents in Lisichansk, from where, when the city was captured by German troops, he was driven to Germany and worked in a labor camp in the Ruhr, from where he was liberated by American troops.
After the war, from 1945 to 1949 he served as a rifleman in the commandant's office of the Soviet Army. In 1949 he began his career as an artist. At first he worked as an artist at the Ministry of Coal Industry (until 1950), from 1950 to 1958 he was an artist at a plant (now NPO Giperon).
In 1956 he entered the Moscow Evening School high school, from which he graduated in 1958. In parallel with his studies, he took courses for animators at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio and at the University of Marxism-Leninism MGK CPSU.
From 1957 to 1982 he worked as an animator at Soyuzmultfilm, taking part in the creation of about a hundred cartoons. animated films. At the end of the 1970s he was admitted to the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR.
Vladimir Zarubin is also known as an artist greeting cards(mainly on cartoon themes), drawings on envelopes, calendars, etc. His works are valued by collectors. Collecting Zarubin's postcards is an independent topic in philocarty. In 2007, a catalog of postcards by Vladimir Zarubin was published.
9 chosen
Probably everyone born in the USSR has special memories imbued with the warmth of New Year's anticipation. My conscious childhood took place already in the 90s, but it contained many signs of a bygone era associated with the most important and most desired holiday of the year. Now the store shelves are bursting with abundance New Year's toys, postcards and other paraphernalia, certainly attractive, but not as soulful as what decorated our New Year's childhood.
In my parents' house, among the glass toys my grandmother brought from the GDR, I still keep a box of New Year's greeting cards from previous years. My sister and I really loved sorting through and looking at them on the eve of the holiday: there was something magical about it. And later in school years As a representative of the editorial board, I often used the treasured box in search of inspiration when releasing the next New Year's wall newspaper.
The box, I must say, is impressive, and most of it is occupied by my favorite greeting cards created by Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. It is impossible not to recognize them: bright, kind and light, depicting small scenes with carefully drawn details. The heroes of his postcards are touching, as if alive, with their own character, with a mood corresponding to the plot. And how can you not smile when you pick up a card slightly yellowed by time... Nostalgia...
The creator of these postcards, Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin, had a very difficult fate. How, after a youth filled with grief and loss, he managed to maintain a bright outlook and share it with his compatriots throughout his life is simply amazing...
Vladimir Zarubin was born on August 7, 1925 in the village of Andriyanovka, Oryol region. During the war, Zarubin lived with his parents in Lisichansk, Ukraine. After the city was captured by the Germans, the young boy was driven to Germany and worked in a prisoner labor camp in the Ruhr, where he had to experience a lot: cruelty, bullying, hunger, fear of death... A few years later, the city was liberated by American troops, and Vladimir Zarubin moved to our occupation zone, where he served in the army for several years. It is known that he was interested in boxing and shooting. And, of course, even then he began to draw seriously. Here is from his memoirs: “Since childhood, I have really loved animals and birds. And now there is a feeder with lard on the balcony. In the morning, a woodpecker flew in... As far as I remember, my first drawing in my life is connected with animals and with... a smile: a horse is running, and “apples” are falling from under its tail. I was five years old at the time, and this drawing passed from hand to hand all over the village. It was there, in a rural house, that he first became familiar with art. My father brought a lot of books on painting, had a good one (by the standards of rural areas- simply wonderful) - five thousand copies - a collection of postcards.”
In 1949, Vladimir Ivanovich began his career as an artist: he worked at the Ministry of Coal Industry, then at a factory. In 1956, he entered the Moscow Evening Secondary School, parallel to his studies, taking courses for animators at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio. Since 1957, Zarubin worked as an animator at Soyuzmultfilm, taking part in the creation of about a hundred hand-drawn animated films.
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The artist devoted all his strength to his favorite work. In 1973, he received the title of winner of a social competition at the studio and had his first heart attack. The fact is that the work of a Soviet animator was only art on one side, but on the other hand it was equated to the same production with a plan, invoices, orders, and so on. In addition, his passion, honesty and openness often collided with traditional intrigue and cronyism. Only in the late 1970s, Zarubin was accepted into the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR, but he was often called the best animator in the country.
In parallel with animation, Vladimir Zarubin talentedly and fruitfully worked in the genre of postal miniatures - he created greeting cards, drawings on envelopes and calendars. His first postcard was released in 1962.
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Zarubin himself believed that he started creating postcards and envelopes relatively late: “ You know, I wanted to find an outlet, because the work of an animator is exhausting and nervous. So I tried my hand first in “Crocodile”, “Kid”, “Izogiz”. The first postcard was published under the editorship of Yuri Ryakhovsky. He helped me find myself in the postal schedule. And the little animals - bear cubs, hares, hedgehogs, as well as gnomes and other heroes - are mine, only mine.
They are truly recognizable and have their own unique face. It was precisely because of this originality that I had difficulties at artistic councils. Well, this is back in “those” times. They would sometimes look at a sketch and begin to analyze it from a socialist realist perspective: “Where have you seen a dog walking on two legs?”, or: “What kind of bear would shout “Aw!” in the forest?” How can you explain? Or here’s the story with a spring card in which Hedgehog presents Hedgehog with a candy rooster. He was wearing my boots, so the artistic council forced Hedgehog to take his shoes off. I remade the postcard, but I felt sorry for the Hedgehog - is it easy to be barefoot in the March snow? So I raised one of his paws so that he wouldn’t freeze...
In previous years, quite a few of my postcards and envelopes, as they say, were fluffed up for nothing at the artistic council».
Many years later, Zarubin left the studio and started working at home.
« It’s nice, of course, that people don’t ignore my work., - said Vladimir Ivanovich. - They write, ask to draw more, and the most active ones suggest plots. It helps, but only morally. It’s generally difficult for me to work on orders. I invent everything myself. But I always want to draw. Even if I’m sick, I just lie down and think. I first “roll” a postcard or envelope in my head so that then everything transfers to paper very quickly. But then I sometimes redraw the plots several times: I’ll finish, as if I’ll take a closer look - no, not quite right. I undertake to add and remove details of the drawing again. A little fairy tale in a drawing...»
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In the early 1990s, the artist began working full-time with one small publishing house. Over time, it grew, mainly thanks to Zarubin's work, but soon the publisher began to delay payment, and then stopped paying altogether, demanding new postcards. This went on for over a year. On June 21, 1996, Vladimir Ivanovich was informed by telephone that “the company had gone bankrupt.” A few hours later the artist died.
Surely you have seen colorful Soviet New Year cards, which with their cuteness leaves even cat videos far behind. They were created by the wonderful Russian artist Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. Few people know how interesting the fate of this amazing person.
Volodya was born in a small village Andriyanovka Alekseevsky village council of Pokrovsky district Oryol region. There were three children in the family: the eldest son was drawn to technology, the middle one wrote poetry, and the youngest son loved to draw since childhood. Volodya's parents had large collection postcards and books with reproductions of paintings. My father was a representative of the working intelligentsia, worked as an engineer at a factory and bought books with pictures, which the children loved very much. Volodya looked at the paintings of old masters for a long time, listening to the explanations of the adults, and tried to draw something himself. One of his first drawings delighted the villagers so much that the picture began to be passed from hand to hand. The boy was only 5 years old, but probably one of his fellow villagers predicted his future as an artist.
The family moved to the city in Ukraine Lisichansk, where in Soviet years created a large-scale industrial production cluster. Life in the city promised great prospects for the already grown-up sons, but then the war began. Nazi troops invaded the territory of the USSR. Volodya's eldest sons went to the front to fight the aggressor, and Volodya, who was barely 16 years old, fell into occupation. After which he was hijacked by the Germans to Germany. There he ended up in a “labor camp” at one of the factories in the city of Ruhr.
Cruelty, bullying, meager food, fear of execution - this is how the childhood of the future artist ended. For several years Volodya was in labor slavery in a foreign country. In 1945, he and other prisoners were released by American troops. Immediately after his liberation, Vladimir wanted to return home and, having moved to the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, went to serve in Soviet army. From 1945 to 1949 he served as a rifleman in the commandant's office. After demobilization, he moved to Moscow for permanent residence and got a job as an artist at one of the factories. Here begins the story of his success and future national fame.
One day, while reading a magazine, he saw an advertisement for enrollment in animator courses at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio. Vladimir became eager to master this profession and began studying. From 1957 to 1982 he worked as a cartoonist at Soyuzmultfilm. From his pen came the images of characters from about 100 cartoons, including his favorites: “Well, wait a minute,” “Mowgli,” “In the footsteps of Bremen Town Musicians", "The Secret of the Third Planet" and many others.
At the same time, the artist began to try his hand at postal miniatures. In 1962, his first postcard was issued with the symbol of that time - a cheerful astronaut. 
Subsequently, Vladimir Ivanovich illustrated many books, but his main love remained postcards. In Soviet times, dozens of them were brought to every home - the tradition of congratulating relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, former neighbors by mail was established and beloved. 
Quite quickly, Zarubin’s postcards became the most popular in the country. People asked for them at the post office, queues lined up for them in stores, and children, of course, collected these postcards and wrote letters to the artist. Surprisingly, he found time to answer. The kindest artist in the country was still very kind person. When Vladimir Ivanovich was asked what was the main thing in his work, he invariably answered: “Maybe my postcards will help people become a little kinder.”
Their total circulation, including envelopes and telegrams, amounted to 1,588,270,000 copies. At the end of the 1970s he was admitted to the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR.
It's really wonderful artist from God, the warmth of his heart was reflected in his creativity. And now people are touched by the simple beauty of his works; Vladimir Zarubin’s postcards are valued among collectors. But most importantly, his cards really bring joy to people. It’s worth looking at a perky, cheerful little squirrel or a hare peeking out from under the tree with a gift, and a person feels a surge of New Year’s mood.
I would like to give all the readers of my blog a New Year's mood. And, it seems to me that there is nothing better than eating a tangerine and looking at the paintings created by such a talented and kind person. With coming!