Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin - famous Russian artist, illustrator. Born on August 4, 1876 in the village of Tarkhovka, St. Petersburg province, he passed away on February 7, 1942 in Leningrad. The main genre in which Ivan Bilibin worked is considered to be book graphics. In addition, he created various paintings, panels and made decorations for theatrical productions, was engaged in the creation of theatrical costumes.
Still, most fans of the talent of this wonderful Russian know him according to his merits in fine arts. I must say that Ivan Bilibin had good school to study the art of painting and graphics. It all started with the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Then there was the studio of the artist A. Aschbe in Munich; at the school-workshop of Princess Maria Tenisheva, he studied painting under the guidance of Ilya Repin himself, then, under his leadership, he studied at the Higher art school Academy of Arts.
I.Ya. Bilibin lived most of his life in St. Petersburg. He was a member of the World of Art association. I began to show interest in the ethnographic style of painting after I saw the painting “Bogatyrs” by the great artist Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov at one of the exhibitions. For the first time, he created several illustrations in his recognizable “Bilibino” style after he accidentally ended up in the village of Egny in the Tver province. The Russian hinterland with its dense, untrodden forests, wooden houses, similar to those very fairy tales of Pushkin and the paintings of Viktor Vasnetsov, inspired him so much with its originality that, without thinking twice, he began creating drawings. It was these drawings that became illustrations for the book “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and Gray wolf" We can say that it was here, in the heart of Russia, in its distant settlements lost in the forests, that all the talent of this wonderful artist. After that, he began to actively visit other regions of our country and write more and more illustrations for fairy tales and epics. It was in the villages that the image of ancient Rus'. People continued to wear ancient Russian costumes and held traditional holidays, decorated houses with intricate carvings, etc. Ivan Bilibin captured all this in his illustrations, making them head and shoulders above the illustrations of other artists thanks to realism and precisely noted details.
His work is a tradition of ancient Russian folk art on modern style, in accordance with all the laws of book graphics. What he did is an example of how modernity and the culture of the past of our great country can coexist. Being, in fact, an illustrator of children's books, his art attracted the attention of a much larger audience of viewers, critics and connoisseurs of beauty.
Ivan Bilibin illustrated such tales as: “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf” (1899), “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1905), “Volga” (1905), “The Golden Cockerel” (1909) ), “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1910) and others. In addition, he designed the covers of various magazines, including: “World of Art”, “Golden Fleece”, publications of “Rosehip” and “Moscow Book Publishing House”.
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin is famous not only for his illustrations in the traditional Russian style. After the February revolution, he painted a double-headed eagle, which was first the coat of arms of the Provisional Government, and from 1992 to this day adorns the coins of the Bank of Russia. The great Russian artist died in Leningrad during the siege on February 7, 1942 in a hospital. Last job became an illustration for the epic “Duke Stepanovich”. Buried in mass grave professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.
The brilliant words of Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin: “Only quite recently, like America, they discovered the old artistic Rus', vandalized, covered with dust and mold. But even under the dust it was beautiful, so beautiful that the first momentary impulse of those who discovered it is quite understandable: to return it! return!".
Ivan Bilibin paintings
Baba Yaga. Illustration for the fairy tale Vasilisa the Beautiful
White Rider. The fairy tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful
Illustration for the epic Volga
Illustration for the fairy tale White Duck
Fairy tale Marya Morevna
Illustration for the Tale of the Golden Cockerel
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
Illustration for the Tale of Tsar Saltan
The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf
Illustration for the Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf
Illustration for the fairy tale Feather of Finist the Bright Falcon
Since childhood, we have become acquainted with the work of Ivan Bilibin, entering the colorful world of fairy tales, which was created by the artistic imagination of the Master. Many of his works have entered our lives so deeply that their origin seems truly folk, going back centuries.
He made illustrations for Russian folk tales “The Frog Princess”, “The Feather of Finist-Yasna Falcon”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “Marya Morevna”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”, “White Duck”, for the fairy tales of A.S. Pushkin - “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1904-1905), “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1906-1907), “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” (1939) and many others.
Editions of fairy tales are of the type of small, large-format notebooks. From the very beginning, Bilibin's books were distinguished by their patterned designs and bright decorativeness. The artist did not create individual illustrations, he strove for an ensemble: he drew the cover, illustrations, ornamental decorations, font - everything was stylized as an old manuscript.
The names of the fairy tales are written in Slavic script. To read, you need to look closely at the intricate design of the letters. Like many graphic artists, Bilibin worked on decorative type. He knew fonts well different eras, especially the Old Russian charter and semi-statut. For all six books, Bilibin draws the same cover, on which the Russians are placed fairy tale characters: three heroes, the bird Sirin, the Serpent-Gorynych, the hut of Baba Yaga. All page illustrations are surrounded by ornamental frames, like rustic windows with carved frames. They are not only decorative, but also have content that continues the main illustration.
In the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” the illustration with the Red Horseman (sun) is surrounded by flowers, and the Black Horseman (night) is surrounded by mythical birds with human heads. The illustration with Baba Yaga's hut is surrounded by a frame with toadstools (what else could be next to Baba Yaga?). But the most important thing for Bilibin was the atmosphere of Russian antiquity, epic, fairy tale. From authentic ornaments and details, he created a half-real, half-fantastic world.
Ornament was a favorite motif of ancient Russian masters and main feature art of that time. These are embroidered tablecloths, towels, painted wooden and pottery, houses with carved platbands and lintels. In his illustrations, Bilibin used sketches of peasant buildings, utensils, and clothing made in the village of Yegny.
I. Ya. Bilibin developed a system of graphic techniques that made it possible to combine illustrations and design in one style, subordinating them to the plane of the book page. Characteristics Bilibinsky style: the beauty of patterned designs, exquisite decorativeness of color combinations, subtle visual embodiment of the world, a combination of bright fabulousness with a sense of folk humor, etc.
The artist strove for an ensemble solution. He emphasized the flatness of the book page with a contour line, lack of lighting, coloristic unity, conventional division of space into plans and the combination of different points of view in the composition.
The process of I. Ya. Bilibin’s graphic drawing was reminiscent of the work of an engraver. Having sketched a sketch on paper, he clarified the composition in all details on tracing paper, and then translated it onto whatman paper. After this, using a kolinsky brush with a cut end, likening it to a chisel, I drew a clear wire outline with ink along the pencil drawing. In his mature period of creativity, Bilibin abandoned the use of the pen, which he sometimes resorted to in his early illustrations. For his impeccable firmness of line, his comrades jokingly nicknamed him “Ivan the Steady Hand.”
In I. Ya. Bilibin’s illustrations of 1900-1910, the composition, as a rule, unfolds parallel to the plane of the sheet. Large figures appear in majestic, frozen poses. The conditional division of space into plans and the combination of different points of view in one composition make it possible to maintain flatness. Lighting completely disappears, color becomes more conventional, the unpainted surface of the paper plays an important role, the way of marking a contour line becomes more complicated, and a strict system of strokes and dots takes shape.
The further development of the Bilibin style is that in later illustrations the artist moved from popular print techniques to the principles of ancient Russian painting: the colors become more sonorous and richer, but the boundaries between them are now marked not by a black wire outline, but by tonal thickening and a thin colored line. The colors appear radiant, but retain locality and flatness, and the image sometimes resembles cloisonne enamel.
Bilibin's passion for ancient Russian art was reflected in the illustrations for Pushkin's fairy tales, which he created after a trip to the North in 1905–1908. Work on fairy tales was preceded by the creation of sets and costumes for Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” and “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin.
The luxurious royal chambers are completely covered with patterns, paintings, and decorations. Here the ornament so abundantly covers the floor, ceiling, walls, clothes of the king and boyars that everything turns into a kind of unsteady vision, existing in a special illusory world and ready to disappear.
“The Tale of Tsar Saltan” was illustrated by I. Bilibin first. Here is the page where Tsar Saltan overhears the conversation of three girls. It’s night outside, the moon is shining, the king hurries to the porch, falling into the snow.
There is nothing fairytale-like about this scene. And yet the spirit of the fairy tale is present. The hut is a real one, a peasant hut, with small windows and an elegant porch. And in the distance there is a tented church. In the 17th century Such churches were built throughout Rus'. And the king’s fur coat is real. In ancient times, such fur coats were made from velvet and brocade brought from Greece, Turkey, Iran, and Italy.
And here is a drawing where the king receives shipbuilders. In the foreground, the king sits on the throne, and the guests bow before him. We can see them all. The scenes of receiving guests and feasts are very decorative and rich in motifs of Russian ornament.
“The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” was the most successful for the artist. Bilibin combined the satirical content of the fairy tale with the Russian popular print into a single whole.
Pushkin's fairy tales were a huge success. Russian Museum Alexandra III bought illustrations for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, and acquired the entire illustrated series “Tales of the Golden Cockerel” Tretyakov Gallery.
And the storyteller Bilibin should be thanked for the fact that double headed eagle, depicted on the coat of arms of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, on ruble coins and paper bills- looks not like an ominous imperial bird, but like a fabulous, magical creature. And in art gallery paper money modern Russia on the ten-ruble “Krasnoyarsk” banknote, the Bilibin tradition is clearly visible: a vertical patterned path with a forest ornament - such frames edged Bilibin’s drawings on Russian themes folk tales. By the way, collaborating with the financial authorities of Tsarist Russia, Bilibin transferred the copyright to many of his graphic designs to the Gosznak factory.
In St. Petersburg, on Okhta, there is a famous plant mineral water"Polyustrovo". And once upon a time there was another production facility in its place. It was called " Joint stock company beer and mead factory "New Bavaria". There was also just “Bavaria” in St. Petersburg, and in general there were many breweries. But this one is a mead-brewing one. And the advertising pictures, as it turned out, were made for them not by anyone, but by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin.
The fairy tale “The Feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon”
Bilibin was the first artist to directly create a children's book based on the most popular look literature - a folk tale. Topic, large circulation, clear, accessible figurative language illustrations, the “festive” nature of the design - everything indicates that Bilibin’s books were intended to be extremely to a wide circle readers. Moreover, the artist’s special merit was that he did not make any discounts “for accessibility.” His books carry that “noble luxury of publications”, which previously belonged only to “rich” books for the elite. Bilibin was the first of the World of Art scholars to apply his extensive experience in publishing highly artistic books to work on a children's book. Other artists would soon follow his example, in particular Alexandre Benois, who created “ABC”.
Many books and journal articles have been written about Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin; his work is of interest to many researchers.
However, in numerous publications about Bilibin there is practically nothing about his cooperation with the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers. They usually write that, by order of the EZGB, the artist illustrated folk tales. In fact, everything was not entirely like that.
In the fall of 1899, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin brought illustrations for three folk tales to the EZGB. He was interested in the cost of printing them; his aunt was supposed to publish the fairy tales. In all likelihood, he really liked the drawings for the fairy tales, and the Expedition invited the artist to purchase the right to publish them from him. Bilibin agreed. Ivan Yakovlevich’s letter to the leadership of the EZGB did not indicate the names of the fairy tales, but it can be assumed that among the first two were: “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf” and “The Frog Princess”, they were published in 1901 . After the appearance of three fairy tales, which the artist himself proposed to print, conditions changed. Now the Expedition commissioned the artist to illustrate three more folk tales.
At this time, the manager of the EZGB was academician, physicist, Prince Boris Borisovich Golitsyn. From the moment he took up this position, he set himself difficult task: to turn the EZGB into an institution “that was supposed to serve as an example to follow for the entire paper and printing industry of Russia and, in addition, to contribute to the cultural and aesthetic development of the people by publishing artistically illustrated editions of Russian classics and popular works in all branches of science printed on good paper "
In the period from 1901 to 1903, six folk tales were published in the EZGB. In addition to the two already mentioned, the following fairy tales were born in 1902: “The Feather of Finist Yasna Sokola” and “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, in 1903 - “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka” and “Marya Morevna”.
By the beginning of the 20th century, a characteristic “Bilibino style” of illustrations for folk tales had formed with its special graphic techniques drawn from Russian lubok, modern French and Japanese art. He always counted on the typographic reproduction of a drawing, valuing it higher than the original. According to the agreement with the Expedition, it retained the ownership of the photographic prints, colored by Bilibin, from which the work was made, while the original drawings remained with the artist.
Your main task Ivan Yakovlevich believed in a deep and serious study of Russian history. On instructions from the ethnographic department of the Russian Museum, in 1902 Bilibin went on an expedition to the Vologda, Tver, and Olonets provinces, where he collected large collection Russian household items and costumes. The collection he collected became the first collection of the Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR.
In the Expedition in 1902, on the initiative of B.B. Golitsyn, a special committee was created, which was entrusted with developing a project for the publication of not only well-illustrated, but also fairly cheap folk publications on art and all branches of knowledge in general. A competition was announced for book illustrations. Famous artists and scientists, such as art critic and art theorist, painter and graphic artist Alexander Nikolaevich Benois. On the issue of publishing children's books, he wrote: “Russian children were fed such rubbish in the 1880s and 1890s... Isn’t that why the breed of people who have become extremely coarse has now spread.” Benoit believed that well-published books for children are “a powerful cultural tool that is destined to play a more beneficial role in Russian education than the wisest state measures and all the streams of strictly scientific words about education.”
The first books with Bilibin’s illustrations for folk tales were that “powerful cultural tool”; they brought the artist and the State Papers Procurement Expedition well-deserved fame, the books were distributed throughout Russia.
Later, I. Ya. Bilibin, together with the head of the engraving and art department of the Expedition, G. I. Frank, decided that the publication of folk tales should be temporarily stopped, that some variety should be introduced by starting to print fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin. In correspondence with EZGB, Bilibin writes about this: “I revere the memory of the greatest Russian poet, in comparison with whom I am a pygmy.” The artist treated the poet’s work with such trepidation.
For several years, work continued on drawings for Pushkin’s fairy tales. “Two illustrative cycles based on Pushkin” were released: “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1904–1905) and “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1906–1907). They were acquired by the Russian Museum of Alexander III and the Tretyakov Gallery. Work on “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” was not completed.
After the publication of folk tales and fairy tales by A. S. Pushkin, Bilibin’s collaboration with the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers did not end, but these were no longer fairy tales.
The artist worked a lot on the design of Russian, French, German and Arabian tales in exile.
The Bilibins are an old Kaluga surname, which was already mentioned in documents from 1617.
Portraits of great-great-grandfather Ivan Kharitonovich and great-grandfather Yakov Ivanovich (1779–1854), eminent merchants, can be seen in the Hermitage. They are completed famous artist D. G. Levitsky. My great-grandfather owned a linen-sail factory and a large Cherepetsky iron foundry in Kaluga.
The artist's father, Yakov Ivanovich, a privy councilor, was the chief physician of a naval hospital. Mother, Varvara Alexandrovna, from the family of a naval engineer, was a student of the composer A. Rubinstein.
Ivan Bilibin's first wife is an Englishwoman, artist Maria Chambers. He married her in 1902.
Bilibin's son from this wife, Alexander (1903–1972), is a theater artist. Since 1917 he lived in England. He worked with his father in Paris and Prague.
Alexandra Vasilievna Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya became the artist’s wife in Cairo in 1923. A student and ally of Roerich, she worked a lot for the theater, creating original sketches for performances. The artist made a unique contribution to the development of Russian porcelain. Her works adorn many museums, but most of them are exhibited in the collection of the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory (now a branch of the Hermitage). The artists were together both during the period of emigration and after returning to their homeland in 1936.
Mstislav Nikolaevich Pototsky (son of Alexandra Vasilievna) devoted most of his life to careful storage and at the same time popularization of the collection left after the death of two wonderful artists - his mother and Ivan Yakovlevich. He created a museum in Ivangorod, where you can get acquainted with their works.
Popova Elena Sergeevna (1891–1974) - last wife Bilibina, applied artist.
In 1921 I.Ya. Bilibin left Russia, lived in Egypt, where he worked actively in Alexandria, traveled around the Middle East, studying artistic heritage ancient civilizations and the Christian Byzantine Empire. In 1925, he settled in France: the works of these years included the design of the magazine “Firebird”, “Anthology on the History of Russian Literature”, books by Ivan Bunin, Sasha Cherny, as well as the painting of a Russian temple in Prague, scenery and costumes for Russian operas “The Fairy Tale” about Tsar Saltan" (1929), " The Tsar's Bride"(1930), "The Legend of the City of Kitezh" (1934) N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, “Prince Igor” by A.P. Borodin (1930), “Boris Godunov” by M.P. Mussorgsky (1931), to the ballet “The Firebird” by I.F. Stravinsky (1931).
Returning to Leningrad in 1936, Bilibin, together with his wife and son, settled in house No. 25 on the street. Gulyarnaya (now Liza Chaikina St.).
When the apartment became uninhabitable due to fascist bombing, Ivan Bilibin moved to the basement of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Artists, which became his second home. On February 7, 1942, he was taken to the hospital at Imperial Academy arts, where he soon died of frostbite and hunger.
The illustrator found his final rest in the mass grave of professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.
(1876-1942) made illustrations for Russian folk tales “The Frog Princess”, “The Feather of Finist-Yasna Falcon”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “Marya Morevna”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka”, “White Duck”, for fairy tales A. S. Pushkin - “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (1904-1905), “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” (1906-1907), “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” (1939) and many others.
I. Ya. Bilibin developed a system of graphic techniques that made it possible to combine illustrations and design in one style, subordinating them to the plane of the book page. Characteristic features of the Bilibin style: the beauty of patterned designs, exquisite decorative color combinations, subtle visual embodiment of the world, a combination of bright fabulousness with a sense of folk humor, etc.
The artist strove for an ensemble solution. He emphasized the flatness of the book page with a contour line, lack of lighting, coloristic unity, conventional division of space into plans and the combination of different points of view in the composition.
One of Bilibin’s significant works were illustrations for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A. S. Pushkin. This fairy tale, with its colorful pictures of ancient Russian life, provided rich food for Bilibin's imagination. With amazing skill and great knowledge, the artist depicted ancient costumes and utensils. He reflected the main episodes of Pushkin's fairy tale. However, different sources of stylization are noticeable between the sheets of the series. The illustration depicting Saltan looking into the little room is emotional and reminiscent of I. Ya. Bilibin’s winter landscapes from life. The scenes of receiving guests and feasts are very decorative and rich in motifs of Russian ornament. A leaf with a barrel floating on the sea is reminiscent of Hokusai's famous "Wave".
The process of I. Ya. Bilibin's graphic drawing was reminiscent of the work of an engraver. Having sketched a sketch on paper, he clarified the composition in all details on tracing paper, and then translated it onto whatman paper. After this, using a kolinsky brush with a cut end, likening it to a chisel, I drew a clear wire outline with ink along the pencil drawing. In his mature period of creativity, Bilibin abandoned the use of the pen, which he sometimes resorted to in his early illustrations. For his impeccable firmness of line, his comrades jokingly nicknamed him “Ivan the Steady Hand.”
In I. Ya. Bilibin’s illustrations of 1900-1910, the composition, as a rule, unfolds parallel to the plane of the sheet. Large figures appear in majestic, frozen poses. The conditional division of space into plans and the combination of different points of view in one composition make it possible to maintain flatness. Lighting completely disappears, color becomes more conventional, the unpainted surface of the paper plays an important role, the way of marking a contour line becomes more complicated, and a strict system of strokes and dots takes shape.
The further development of the Bilibin style is that in later illustrations the artist moved from popular print techniques to the principles: the colors become more sonorous and richer, but the boundaries between them are now marked not by a black wire outline, but by tonal thickening and a thin colored line. The colors appear radiant, but retain locality and flatness, and the image sometimes resembles cloisonne enamel.
Artist's works:
Palace of Dodona. Scenery sketch for the first act of N. A. Rimskaya-Korsakov’s opera “The Golden Cockerel”. 1909
Illustration for the Russian folk tale “Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what...”
Crimea. Batiliman. 1940
Book sign by A. E. Benakis. 1922
Ending for the magazine "World of Art". 1899
Ivan the Tsarevich and the Firebird. Illustration for “The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf.” 1899
Vasilisa the Beautiful leaves Baba Yaga's house. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1899
Cover for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1899
Baba Yaga. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1900
Vasilisa the Beautiful and the White Horseman. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1900
Screensaver for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful”. 1900
Red Rider. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1900
Black Rider. Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1900
Red Rider (Noon or Sun). Illustration for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful.” 1902
Screensaver for the fairy tale “The Feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon”. 1900
Maiden and Finist Yasen-Falcon. Illustration for the fairy tale “The Feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon.” 1900
Girl in the forest. Illustration for the fairy tale “The Feather of Finist Yasna-Falcon.” 1900
Screensaver for the fairy tale “The Frog Princess”. 1899
Illustration for the story “Once upon a time there was a king...” from the book “The Frog Princess”. 1900
Drawing from the book “The Frog Princess”. 1901
Screensaver for the fairy tale “Marya Morevna”. 1900
Good fellow, Ivan Tsarevich and his three sisters. Illustration for the fairy tale “Marya Morevna”. 1901
Ivan Tsarevich and “the army is a beaten force.” Illustration for the fairy tale “Marya Morevna”. 1901
Kashchei the Immortal. Illustration for the fairy tale “Marya Morevna”. 1901
Screensaver for the fairy tale “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka.” 1901
Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka. Illustration for the fairy tale “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka.” 1901
The ending to the fairy tale “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka.” 1902
Children and white duck. Illustration for the fairy tale “The White Duck”. 1902
Volga with her squad. Illustration for the epic "Volga". 1903
Kem River. Open letter.1904
The village of Poduzhemie. Sketch of an open letter. 1904
“Here he shrank to a point, turned into a mosquito...” Illustration for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin. 1904
“During the entire conversation he stood behind the fence...” Illustration for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin. 1904
Feast. Illustration for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin. 1905
Trade guests at Saltan's. Illustration for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A.S. Pushkin. 1905
Vologda girl in a festive outfit. Drawing for a postcard. 1905
Dadonov's army. U-turn. Illustration for “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” by A.S. Pushkin. 1906
Stargazer before Dadon. Illustration for “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” by A.S. Pushkin. 1906
King Dadon in front of the Shamakhan queen. Illustration for “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” by A.S. Pushkin. 1906
Cover for “The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish” by A.S. Pushkin. 1908
Archer in front of the king and retinue. Illustration for the fairy tale “Go there - I don’t know where.” 1919
Andrey the shooter and Strelchikha. 1919
Ivan Bilibin is widely known, first of all, as an illustrator of Russian folk tales. He developed his own artistic style based on the then popular Art Nouveau and Russian folk arts and crafts. This style, called “Bilibinsky”, is still popular in our time. He is unique business card Russian illustration. Very many contemporary artists strive to imitate his graphic style.
Biography of Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin: early years
The artist was born on August 4 according to the old style or August 16 according to the new style in 1876 in the village. Tarkhovka near St. Petersburg. The Bilibin family has very ancient roots. Their surname is mentioned in documents from the 17th century. And portraits of Bilibin’s great-grandfathers, famous merchants, occupy a place of honor in the Hermitage. His father was a naval doctor and privy councilor, and his mother was a composer.
Bilibin showed a penchant for drawing even in childhood. In parallel with his studies at the gymnasium, he studied at the school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. However, contrary to the urge young Ivan to creativity, the father wanted to see his son become a lawyer. Obedient Ivan, following his father’s will, enters the law faculty, but does not give up painting. After graduating from university, the artist went to Germany to study in the studio of the painter A. Ashbe. Students came here from all over the world. After a short study, he returned to St. Petersburg and attended classes in Ilya Repin’s workshop as a free student. A few years later he entered the art school at the Academy of Arts. He soon becomes an honorary member creative organization"World of Art".
First illustrations
Interest in folk style young artist appeared under the influence of Viktor Vasnetsov’s painting “Bogatyrs”, which he saw at one of the exhibitions. The atmosphere of Russian antiquity charmed him so much that he went on a journey through the rural hinterlands. There he walks through the dense forests, draws old wooden huts, ornaments and in every possible way imbues himself with the spirit of antiquity. After this, he begins to create drawings in his unique style. Ivan Bilibin draws his first book illustrations for fairy tales from the collection of Alexander Afanasyev.
“The Frog Princess”, “Ivan Tsarevich”, “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka” are the most of them. These books instantly became popular thanks not only to their unusual stylization, but also to their special vision of folk fairy-tale images of Baba Yaga, the Serpent Gorynych, heroes, and Ivan Tsarevich. Bilibin not only drew the characters, but also enclosed each illustration in a decorative frame with an ornament that corresponded to the character of the fairy-tale characters. He also designed book covers and wrote titles in a font stylized as ancient Slavic writing.
A trip to the north
However decisive role Trips to the Arkhangelsk and Vologda provinces, and from there to Karelia, where he was sent on a so-called business trip by the World of Art society, played a role in the biography of Ivan Bilibin and his formation as an illustrator. There the painter discovered the life of the Russian north, its architecture, and art. Time seemed to stand still in those places. The artist saw people in national costumes with embroidery, got acquainted with the popular style of painting kitchen utensils, household items, lived in a hut with carved shutters, painted old wooden churches. All this will subsequently be reflected in the paintings of Ivan Bilibin. These trips were very productive. The artist brought with him many drawings, sketches, photographs, and then wrote several articles based on his notes. This material helped him in his work on theatrical scenery, as well as on the next series of illustrations, this time for Pushkin’s fairy tales.
Design of the works of the great poet
Bilibin began work with the famous and beloved "Tales of Tsar Saltan." He worked with high precision not only the environment of the characters, but also the costumes of the heroes, as well as the ancient architecture.
In these tales he allowed himself some experiments with style. For example, in the painting by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, depicting a stormy sea, the wave is very similar to the work of the Japanese Katsushika Hokusai. And in “The Tale of the Golden Cockerel” the popular print style is clearly visible. All illustrations for this work were purchased by the Tretyakov Gallery.
Bilibin's picture books were very popular with the public. They were distinguished by the beauty and harmony of both design and design, eye-pleasing color combinations, colorful characters, and detailed colorful outfits. The stylized font was also a highlight.
Behind all this was hidden the enormous work of the artist. He began work with a sketch, then transferred it to tracing paper, then drew it on paper, and only then traced the contours of the drawing with ink. At the final stage of work, he filled in the colors with watercolors. Moreover, he used exclusively local colors without a gradient. It is amazing how carefully he reproduced numerous ornaments and painted out small details.
Revolution and the double-headed eagle
During the heyday of Bilibin’s popularity, a revolution was brewing in the country. The artist begins to draw cartoons on revolutionary themes. He receives an order from the Provisional Government to design a coat of arms. Bilibin painted a fabulous double-headed eagle, which was destined to go down in history, because since 1992 it has been depicted on all Russian banknotes. In addition, Goznak owns the copyright to some of the artist’s sketches and designs.
Working in advertising
The illustrator also managed to work in the field of commercial illustration. He created advertising posters and brochures for the New Bavaria brewery. He also designed the covers of popular magazines and almanacs: “Golden Fleece”, “Rosehipnik”, “Moscow Publishing House”. Bilibin also painted theater posters, sketches for postage stamps. He was published with pleasure, and products with his pictures were in great demand.
Teaching activities and personal life
Ivan Bilibin successfully combined work on illustrations and teaching students. He taught graphics at the Drawing School for the Encouragement of Arts, where he himself once studied. His students were artists Konstantin Eliseev, Nikolai Kuzmin, Georgy Narbut, as well as his two future wives.
Around that period, Bilibin got married, and his first wife was Maria Chambers, a graphic designer. She also graduated from the mentioned school. They had two sons. However, the marriage was not happy and after a few years they separated. After which Maria and her sons went to live in England.
Ivan married for the second time one of his students, Renee O'Connell. After training, she began working as an artist at a porcelain factory. There were no children in this marriage. Five years later they divorced.
His third and last wife was Alexandra Shchekatikhina-Pototskaya. She was also his former student and porcelain artist, like his previous wife. Alexandra will accompany Bilibin on all his travels and will remain with him until the very end.
Ivan Yakovlevich actively participated in the revival artistic traditions and decorative and applied arts of Rus'. The following lines belong to him: “The old artistic Rus' was discovered quite recently, like America. Although it is covered with a thick layer of dust and is all moldy, it is still beautiful.” His activities contributed to interest not only in ancient Russian creativity, but also in everyday life, customs, and cultural heritage.
Moving to Crimea
Already a well-known and recognized illustrator, Ivan Yakovlevich acquired a plot of land on the southern coast of Crimea in Batiliman Bay. According to historical data, together with the painter, several other representatives of the intelligentsia bought a large plot of land, among whom were writers Alexander Kuprin, Vladimir Korolenko, artist Vladimir Derviz and professor Vladimir Vernadsky. They divided the land among themselves by drawing lots. Bilibin was given a plot of land on the seashore with a small fishing hut, which he turned into a workshop. There he settled for several years.
Life in Egypt
In the early 20s, Bilibin went to live in Egypt. One of the reasons for such a sudden change of residence could be disagreements with the Soviet government after the October Revolution.
He settled with his wife Alexandra in Cairo. There he lives and works on frescoes for temples in the Byzantine style, and also studies local art and architecture. At that time he traveled a lot around Cyprus and Syria. Abandoned for a while book graphics, he creates primarily portraits and landscapes in a realistic manner. Then he decides to move with his family to Alexandria. The first personal exhibition of paintings by Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin took place there.
Work in Paris
Five years later, the painter left Egypt for Paris, where he showed himself as a talented theater decorator and costume designer, using the knowledge and experience gained in his homeland. He creates sets for operas and performances, such as the ballet by composer Stravinsky “The Firebird”, the opera “Boris Godunov”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”. Ivan Bilibin also returns to illustrations and works on French fairy tales. In Paris, the painter created charitable foundation in support of emigrant artists.
Shortly before returning home, he works on a large mural "Mikula Selyaninovich" at the Soviet embassy in Paris.
Returning home
Despite successful work in France, the artist decides to return to hometown, now Leningrad. This was a very risky act, since in his homeland he could well have expected severe repression from the Soviet authorities, to which they subjected many artists, writers, actors and other members of the intelligentsia who returned from emigration. But Bilibin was lucky, and this fate passed him by. Apparently, his achievements in the field of culture were of decisive importance.
He now begins cooperation with Soviet publishing houses and theaters. Designs the performances "Commander Suvorov", "About Tsar Saltan". Latest works Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin became the illustrations for the “Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich and the merchant Ivan Kalashnikov” and the novel “Peter the Great”, in which he tried to adhere to his style, despite the strict limiting framework of the Soviet system.
Death
The fact that returning is still a bad omen can be seen from the example of the sad death of a great artist. Five years after his return, the war began and the city was besieged. It is unknown whether he was unable to leave besieged Leningrad or whether he voluntarily refused to do so. But even at this time hard time he continued creative activity. Deeply worried about his war-torn homeland, he wrote an ode in verse, which was published after his death.
The artist Ivan Bilibin died in besieged Leningrad in winter in 1942 from hunger. He was buried in a common grave along with the professors of the Art Academy.
The work of Ivan Yakovlevich made an incredible shift in Russian art in general and in illustration in particular. His paintings are stories in miniature, from which it is quite possible to study ancient Russian life, culture and customs. At the same time, the popularity of the Bilibin style has spread far beyond the borders of his homeland. Books with the artist’s works continue to be published in our time. His artistic heritage includes hundreds of illustrations not only for Russian fairy tales, but also for foreign ones, as well as many unique sets and costumes for plays and theatrical productions, numerous sketches of frescoes and wall panels. Ivan Bilibin revived the original creative traditions of the peoples of Rus', adapted them and made them accessible to his contemporaries.
Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich is primarily known for his graphic illustrations to the Russian epic. IN recent years throughout his life, the artist worked on sketches for N.V. Vodovozov’s collection “The Tale of Capital Kyiv and […]
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin’s illustration “The Black Horseman” for the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Beautiful” was made in 1900. I. Ya. Bilibin’s fairy-tale illustrations are characterized by pattern and decorativeness. “The Black Horseman,” like other drawings by the author, is surrounded by an ornament: […]
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Probably everyone has held in their hands beautiful children's books with thick, colorful covers with patterns on the margins in the old Russian style. And certainly everyone knows the fairy tale about Vasilisa the Beautiful. Let's take a closer look at [...]
Ivan Bilibin felt subtly original character and the bright character of the people of ancient Rus' and knew how to convey it in his paintings. Looking at the illustrations of this wonderful artist at first glance, it is impossible to perceive the whole [...]
Bilibin illustrated fairy tales written by the Russian people. We all know Baba Yaga from childhood. She lived in an unusual hut that stood on chicken legs. Usually it lay on the stove or bench. Yaga moved […]