Ivan Bilibin: the main facts about the "fairytale artist" & nbsp. Fabulous illustrations

2. Artist-storyteller

Almost every Russian person knows Bilibin's illustrations from the books of fairy tales that were read to him at night in childhood. Meanwhile, these illustrations are more than a hundred years old. From 1899 to 1902 Ivan Bilibin created a series of six "Fairy Tales" published by the Expedition of Procurement of State Papers. After that, Pushkin's tales about Tsar Saltan and the Golden Cockerel and a slightly less famous epic "Volga" with illustrations by Bilibin were published in the same publishing house.

It is interesting that the famous illustration for "The Tale of Tsar Saltan ..." with a barrel floating on the sea resembles the famous "Big Wave" by the Japanese artist Katsushiki Hokusai. The process of making a graphic drawing by I. Ya. Bilibin was similar to the work of an engraver. First, he sketched a sketch on paper, clarified the composition in all details on tracing paper, and then translated it into whatman paper. After that, using a kolinsky brush with a trimmed end, likening it to a cutter, I traced a clear wire contour with ink over the pencil drawing.

Bilibin's books look like painted boxes. It was this artist who first saw a children's book as a holistic, artistically designed organism. His books are similar to old manuscripts, because the artist thinks over not only drawings, but also all decorative elements: fonts, ornaments, decorations, initials and everything else.

Few people know that Bilibin even worked in the field of advertising. The place where the Polyustrovo mineral water plant is located in St. Petersburg used to be the Joint Stock Company of the New Bavaria Beer and Honey Factory. It was for this plant that Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin created advertising posters and pictures. In addition, the artist created posters, addresses, sketches postage stamps (in particular, a series for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov) and about 30 postcards for the Community of St. Eugenia.Bilibin later drew postcards for Russian publishing houses in Paris and Berlin.

4. Double-headed eagle

The same two-headed eagle, which is now used on the coins of the Bank of Russia, belongs to the brush of the heraldry expert Bilibin. The artist painted it after the February Revolution as the coat of arms for the Provisional Government. The bird looks fabulous, not ominous, because it was painted by a famous illustrator of Russian epics and fairy tales. The two-headed eagle is depicted without royal regalia and with lowered wings; the inscription "Russian Provisional Government" and the characteristic "forest" Bilibino ornament are made around the circle. Bilibin transferred the copyright to the coat of arms and some other graphic designs to the Goznak factory.

5. Theater artist

Bilibin's first experience in scenography was the design of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden for the National Theater in Prague. His next works - sketches of costumes and scenery for the operas "The Golden Cockerel", "Sadko", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Boris Godunov" and others. And after emigrating to Paris in 1925, Bilibin continues to work with theaters: he prepares brilliant scenery for the performances of Russian operas, decorates Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird in Buenos Aires and operas in Brno and Prague. Bilibin made extensive use of old engraving, popular prints, and folk art. Bilibin was a true connoisseur of ancient costumes of different nations, he was interested in embroidery, braid, weaving techniques, ornament and everything that created the national flavor of the people.

6. The Artist and the Church

Bilibin also has works related to church painting. In it, he remains himself, retains his individual style. After leaving St. Petersburg, Bilibin lived for some time in Cairo and actively participated in the design of the Russian house church in the premises of the clinic, arranged by Russian doctors. The iconostasis of this temple was built according to his project. And after 1925, when the artist moved to Paris, he became a founding member of the "Icon" society. As an illustrator, he created the charter cover and print design for the society. There is also a trace of him in Prague - he made sketches of frescoes and an iconostasis for the Russian church at the Olshansk cemetery in the Czech capital.

7 homecoming and death

Over time, Bilibin reconciled with the Soviet regime. He designed the Soviet embassy in Paris, and then, in 1936, returned by boat to his native Leningrad. Teaching is added to his professions: he teaches at the All-Russian Academy of Arts - the oldest and largest art educational institution in Russia. In September 1941, at the age of 66, the artist refused the proposal of the People's Commissar of Education to evacuate from besieged Leningrad to the deep rear. “They don't flee from the besieged fortress, they defend it,” he wrote in reply. Under fascist shelling and bombing, the artist creates patriotic postcards for the front, writes articles and appeals to the heroic defenders of Leningrad. Bilibin died of hunger in the very first blockade winter and was buried in the mass grave of professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (August 4 (16), 1876 - February 7, 1942) - Russian artist, book illustrator and theater designer, member of the World of Art association.

Born on 4 (16) August 1876 in the village of Tarkhovka (near St. Petersburg), in the family of the naval doctor Yakov Ivanovich Bilibin.
In 1888 he entered the 1st St. Petersburg classical gymnasium, from which he graduated with a silver medal in 1896. In 1900 he graduated from the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University. In 1895-1898 he studied at the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. In 1898 he studied for two months at the studio of the artist Anton Ashbe in Munich. For several years (1898-1900) he studied under the guidance of Ilya Repin at the school-workshop of Princess Maria Tenisheva, then (1900-1904) under the guidance of Repin at the Higher Art School of the Academy of Arts.
He lived mainly in St. Petersburg.

"As far as I can remember," he later recalled, "I have always drawn." The itinerant artists were idols. “I grew up in an intelligent family with a liberal tinge,” wrote Bilibin. - A traveling exhibition was always expected with great interest: will it give something this year? The attitude to another, academic exhibition was different; there was neither anticipation of her, nor that love. "

Bilibin was young, handsome and inventive for all sorts of tricks, however, quite harmless. One of his classmates later recalled how he first "saw a young, cheerful, blackish, with a large beard for his age, a student with a curious bouncing gait, he was most often called Ivan Yakolich, and he learned his last name after, and she was Bilibin." And further: “At first, I reacted to him somehow unkindly, because when Repin was not in the workshop, Ivan Yakovlevich was often one of the first skirmishers in terms of witticisms, funny conversations and general songs while drawing, but then I saw that it was he was a lovely person, very cheerful, sociable ... ".

In the Tenishevsky workshop, Ivan Bilibin met Maria Yakovlevna Chambers, who later became his wife.

Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva (1871-1955), who knew him well, draws a charming portrait of the young artist: “His appearances were sudden. He was very handsome. With pale, dusky skin, he had bluish black hair and beautiful dark eyes. Bilibin knew that he was good, and surprised his comrades with his unexpected outfits. I remember him very much when he came in a bright blue frock coat. "

After the formation of the art association "World of Art" becomes an active member.
The founders of the "World of Art" sympathized with the West. For Alexander Nikolaevich Benois, France was the light in the window, and Konstantin Andreevich Somov and Lev Samoilovich Bakst generally spent most of their lives in Paris. If we talk about the time perspective, then all of them were impressed by the gallant 18th century. Many associated with France and the 18th century the ideas brought by the World of Artists into Russian art.

The time in which he happened to live was difficult and contradictory: Bloody Sunday January 9, 1905, the Lena execution, the First World War, the February Revolution with its unfulfilled hopes, the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, emigration ... Russia. They delight with the transparency of the colors, there are almost no shadows, the shading is minimal.

For the refinement of this style, the vigor of the work and the impeccable firmness of the artist's line, his colleagues called him “Ivan the Iron Hand”.

All his sympathies were on the side of venerable realism. In the album of one of his friends, he wrote: “I, the undersigned, make a solemn promise that I will never be like artists in the spirit of Gallen, Vrubel and all the impressionists. My ideal is Semiradsky, Repin (in his youth), Shishkin ... If I do not fulfill this promise, I will go to a foreign camp, then let them cut off my right hand and send it alcoholized to the Medical Academy ”2. In the first place is not Ilya Efimovich Repin (1844-1930), but Genrikh Ippolitovich Semiradsky (1843-1902), in his work realistic, even naturalistic, but very far from the Itinerant artists.

Describing the artist's creative manner, the famous art critic and bibliologist Alexei Alekseevich Sidorov (1891-1978) wrote: “From the very beginning Bilibin mastered a special planar system of drawing and the whole composition, which was based on a linear pattern, stylized, most likely, following the example of the northern , Norwegian or Finnish artists, images in a frame, just as stylized and ornamental, using the motives of Russian folk embroidery and woodcarving. "
“Only quite recently, like America, was discovered the old artistic Russia, crippled by Vandals, 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!" - wrote Ivan Bilibin.

From the very beginning, Bilibin's books were distinguished by the pattern of the drawing, bright decorativeness. Bilibin did not create individual illustrations, he strove for the ensemble: he painted the cover, illustrations, ornamental decorations, typeface - he stylized everything like an old manuscript.

The names of the tales are executed in Slavic script. To read it, you have to look closely at the intricate drawing of the letters. Like many graphic artists, Bilibin worked on a decorative typeface. He knew well the fonts of different eras, especially the Old Russian charter and semi-ustav. Bilibin draws the same cover for all six books, on which he has Russian 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 architraves. 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 (the sun) is surrounded by flowers, and the Black Horseman (night) is surrounded by mythical birds with human heads. The illustration of 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, an epic, a fairy tale. From genuine ornaments and details, he created a semi-real, semi-fantastic world.

The ornament was a favorite motif of ancient Russian masters and the main feature of the art of that time. These are embroidery of tablecloths, towels, painted wooden and earthenware, houses with carved platbands and quilts. In the illustrations, Bilibin used sketches of peasant buildings, utensils, and clothes.

Bilibin's illustrations framed by floral ornament very accurately reflect the content of the tale. We can see the details of the heroes' costumes, the expression on the faces of the surprised boyars, and even the pattern on the kokoshniks.

In November 1904, the next issue of the magazine "World of Art" was published, almost entirely dedicated to Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin. The artist himself designs it, illustrates and places in it the article "Folk Art of the North".

Bilibin subsequently published black-and-white, graphically very accurate drawings made in northern Russian villages on the pages of the journal "Public Education". Alexander Nikolaevich Benois called Bilibin “one of the best connoisseurs of Russian antiquity” 8.

The books published by the Expedition for Procurement of State Papers were distributed throughout Russia, had tremendous success and made the artist's name famous.

After the February Revolution, Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was a member of the Special Conference on Arts Affairs, which, under the chairmanship of Maxim Gorky, worked under the Provisional Government.

The same two-headed eagle, which is now used on the coins of the Bank of Russia, belongs to the brush of the heraldry expert Bilibin. The artist painted it after the February Revolution as the coat of arms for the Provisional Government, and since 1992 this eagle has again become the official Russian symbol. The bird looks fabulous, not ominous, because it was painted by a famous illustrator of Russian epics and fairy tales. The two-headed eagle is depicted without royal regalia and with lowered wings; the inscription "Russian Provisional Government" and the characteristic "forest" Bilibino ornament are made around the circle. Bilibin transferred the copyright to the coat of arms and some other graphic designs to the Goznak factory.

Bilibin did not accept the October coup. For almost two years he lived in the Crimea, then moved to Rostov-on-Don, under the onslaught of the Red Army, together with the White Guard, he fled to Novorossiysk and from there on February 21, 1920 sailed to Constantinople.

Over time, Bilibin reconciled with the Soviet regime. He designed the Soviet embassy in Paris, and then, in 1936, returned by boat to his native Leningrad. Teaching is added to his professions: he teaches at the All-Russian Academy of Arts - the oldest and largest art educational institution in Russia. In September 1941, at the age of 66, the artist refused the proposal of the People's Commissar of Education to evacuate from besieged Leningrad to the deep rear. “They don't flee from the besieged fortress, they defend it,” he wrote in reply. Under fascist shelling and bombing, the artist creates patriotic postcards for the front, writes articles and appeals to the heroic defenders of Leningrad. Bilibin died of hunger in the very first blockade winter and was buried in the mass grave of professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.

“Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, our wonderful graphic artist and stylist, died of exhaustion,” writes A.P. Ostroumov-Lebedev in his Autobiographical Notes. - None of the artists was able to feel and perceive the Russian folk art, which was widely spread and flourished among our people. Ivan Yakovlevich loved him, studied, translated into his beautiful graphic works. I don’t know the details of his death, I just heard that lately he lived in the basement of the Academy of Arts, as his apartment became uninhabited by the bombing ”.

Fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful"

There are many illustrators of children's books. One of the outstanding illustrators is Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin. It was his illustrations that helped to create an elegant and accessible children's book.

Focusing on the traditions of ancient Russian and folk art, Bilibin developed a logically consistent system of graphic techniques, which remained in the basis throughout his entire work. This graphic system, as well as Bilibin's peculiar interpretation of epic and fairy-tale images, made it possible to talk about a special Bilibin style.

Fragment of a portrait of Ivan Bilibin by Boris Kustodiev 1901

It all began with an exhibition of Moscow artists in 1899 in St. Petersburg, where Bilibin saw a painting by V. Vasnetsov "Heroes". Brought up in a St. Petersburg environment, far from hobbies for the national past, the artist unexpectedly showed interest in Russian antiquity, fairy tales, folk art. In the summer of the same year, Bilibin left for the village of Yegny, Tver province, to see for himself the dense forests, transparent rivers, wooden huts, and hear fairy tales and songs. Pictures from the exhibition of Viktor Vasnetsov come to life in the imagination. Artist Ivan Bilibin begins to illustrate Russian folk tales from Afanasyev's collection. And in the fall of the same year, the Expedition of Procurement of State Papers (Goznak) began to publish a series of fairy tales with Bilibino drawings. For 4 years Bilibin illustrated seven fairy tales: "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka", "White duck", "Princess-frog", "Marya Morevna", "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" , "The Feather of Finist Jasna-Sokol", "Vasilisa the Beautiful". Editions of fairy tales belong to the type of small-sized large-format notebooks. From the very beginning, Bilibin's books were distinguished by the pattern of drawing, bright decorativeness. The artist did not create individual illustrations, he strove for the ensemble: he painted the cover, illustrations, ornamental decorations, typeface - he stylized everything to resemble an old manuscript.

The names of the tales are executed in Slavic script. To read it, you have to look closely at the intricate drawing of the letters. Like many graphic artists, Bilibin worked on a decorative typeface. He knew well the fonts of different eras, especially the Old Russian charter and semi-ustav. Bilibin draws the same cover for all six books, on which he has Russian 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 architraves. 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 (the sun) is surrounded by flowers, and the Black Horseman (night) is surrounded by mythical birds with human heads. The illustration of 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, an epic, a fairy tale. From genuine ornaments and details, he created a semi-real, semi-fantastic world. The ornament was a favorite motif of ancient Russian masters and the main feature of the art of that time. These are embroidery of tablecloths, towels, painted wooden and earthenware, houses with carved platbands and quilts. In the illustrations, Bilibin used sketches of peasant buildings, utensils, and clothes made in the village of Yegny.

Fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" 1900

Fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" Black Horseman 1900

Bilibin proved himself to be a book artist, he did not limit himself to performing individual illustrations, but strove for integrity. Feeling the specifics of book graphics, he emphasizes the plane with a contour line and a monochromatic watercolor painting. Systematic drawing lessons under the guidance of Ilya Repin and acquaintance with the magazine and society "World of Art" contributed to the growth of Bilibin's skill and general culture. An expedition to the Vologda and Arkhangelsk provinces on the instructions of the ethnographic department of the World of Art society was of decisive importance for the artist. Bilibin got acquainted with the folk art of the North, saw with his own eyes ancient churches, huts, utensils in the house, old clothes, embroidery. Contact with the primary source of artistic national culture forced the artist to practically overestimate his early works. From now on, he will be extremely accurate in depicting architecture, costume, and everyday life. From a trip to the North, Bilibin brought many drawings, photographs, a collection of samples of folk art. The documentary substantiation of each detail becomes the unchanging creative principle of the artist. Bilibin's passion for ancient Russian art was reflected in illustrations for Pushkin's fairy tales, which he created after a trip to the North in 1905-1908. The work on the fairy tales was preceded by the creation of scenery and costumes for the operas by Rimsky-Korsakov "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" and "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" by A.S. Pushkin.

Fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" Red Horseman 1902

Bilibin achieves special brilliance and invention in his illustrations for the fairy tales of A.S. Pushkin. The luxurious royal chambers are completely covered with patterns, paintings, ornaments. Here, the ornament so abundantly covers the floor, ceiling, walls, clothes of the tsar and boyars that everything turns into a kind of unsteady vision that exists in a special illusory world and is about to disappear. "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" was the most successful of the artist. Bilibin combined the satirical content of the tale with the Russian popular print into a single whole. Beautiful four illustrations and a spread completely tell us the content of the tale. Let's remember a splint, which had a whole story in a picture. Pushkin's fairy tales were a huge success. The Russian Museum of Alexander III bought illustrations for "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", and the entire illustrated cycle "Tales of the Golden Cockerel" was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery. The storyteller Bilibin should be thanked for the fact that the two-headed eagle depicted on the coat of arms of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, on ruble coins and paper bills does not look like an ominous imperial bird, but like a fabulous, magical creature. And in the picture gallery of paper money of modern Russia on the ten-ruble "Krasnoyarsk" banknote, the Bilibin tradition is clearly traced: a vertical patterned path with forest ornaments - such frames edged Bilibin's drawings on the themes of Russian folk tales. By the way, cooperating with the financial authorities of tsarist Russia, Bilibin transferred the copyright for many of his graphic designs to the Gosznak factory.

"The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" 1899

Epic "Volga" Volga with a retinue 1903

In 1921 I. Ya. Bilibin left Russia, lived in Egypt, where he actively worked in Alexandria, traveled to the Middle East, studying the artistic heritage of ancient civilizations and the Christian Byzantine Empire. In 1925, he settled in France: his works during these years were the design of the Firebird magazine, Readers on the History of Russian Literature, books by Ivan Bunin, Sasha Cherny, as well as the painting of a Russian church in Prague, scenery and costumes for Russian operas Fairy Tale about Tsar Saltan "(1929)," The Tsar's Bride "(1930)," The Legend of the City of Kitezh "(1934) N.А. 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).

Golynets G.V. I.Ya.Bilibin. M., Fine Arts. 1972.S. 5

"The Tale of Tsar Saltan" 1904

Fairy tale "Marya Morevna" 1901

Fairy tale "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka" 1901

The fairy tale "The Feather of Finist Jasna-Sokol" 1900

Fairy tale "The Frog Princess" 1901

Ending to "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish"

Ivan Bilibin, who lived in Cairo in the 1920s, unexpectedly receives a letter from Petrograd from his former student Shurochka Schekatikhina. Bilibin is so moved by this letter that in response he sends a telegram: "Marry me." Two days later, Shurochka sends her consent. Oddly enough, the marriage was successful and Bilibin lived with Shurochka all his life.

Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich, (1876 - 1942) was born in the village of Tarkhovka near St. Petersburg in the family of a naval doctor. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and at the same time studied at the workshop of A. Azhba in Munich, then at the school of M. K. Tenisheva under I. E. Repin. Since 1900 he became a member of the World of Art association.

Since 1899, Bilibin began to work in book graphics, in which he created an ornamental and decorative graphically expressive style, called "Bilibin"

This style, based on the stylization of folk popular prints, ancient Russian miniatures, wood carvings, was distinguished by a carefully worked out contour drawing, tinted with watercolors.

Perhaps, in many respects, the formation of such a national style was facilitated by expeditions to the northern provinces to study the monuments of pre-Petrine architecture, arts and crafts, performed by the artist in 1902-1904 on the instructions of the ethnographic department of the Russian Museum.

Bilibin's greatest fame as an artist was brought by illustrations based on Russian folk tales: "Vasilisa the Beautiful", "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka", "Finist Yasny Sokol", "Princess Frog" and others, including Pushkin's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and To the Golden Cockerel.

White rider. Illustration for the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful"

The Red Horseman. Illustration for the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful"

Illustration for the fairy tale "The Feather of Finist Clear Falcon"

Illustration for the fairy tale "The Frog Princess"

Illustration for the fairy tale "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka"

Illustration for "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

Illustration for "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

Illustration for "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel"

Since 1904, Bilibin has been successfully engaged in scenography.

The artist initially did not accept the October Revolution. In the fall of 1917, he left for the Crimea, from there in 1920 he reached Egypt, lived in Cairo and Alexandria, only in 1925 he moved to Paris.

Abroad, in addition to books and theatrical works, he created a number of colorful panels that have become a kind of standards of the "russ style".

Decorated the Soviet embassy in Paris with the monumental-patriotic panel "Mikula Selyaninovich".

By 1936, Bilibin became more calm about the Soviet system and returned to his homeland, to Leningrad.

In the last decade of his life, the artist taught at the All-Russian Academy of Arts.

Finally. The formation of book graphics as a special art is associated with the name of Bilibin in Russian culture. As the artist himself noted, relying on samples of old European and Japanese engravings, he introduced samples of Old Russian art into his work, where elements of icon painting, Russian embroidery and printed prints, and folk popular prints were present, and created a style in which graphic drawing was an image and at the same time a decoration tending to the ornament.