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Pictures from childhood

Guides to the world of children's literature, thanks to which lines that are still incomprehensible to a small reader acquire bright and magical images. Illustrators of children's books, choosing this path, as a rule, remain faithful to it throughout creative life. And their readers, growing up, remain attached to the pictures from their childhood that goes farther and farther away. Natalya Letnikova recalled the work of outstanding domestic illustrators.

Ivan Bilibin

Ivan Bilibin. "Firebird". Illustration for "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf". 1899

Boris Kustodiev. Portrait of Ivan Bilibin. 1901. Private collection

Ivan Bilibin. Dead Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf. Illustration for "The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf". 1899

Theatrical designer, teacher of the Academy of Arts, Bilibin created a unique author's style, which was later called "Bilibino". The artist's works were distinguished by an abundance of ornaments and patterns, fabulousness of images, while strictly following the historical appearance of Russian costume and household items. Bilibin drew the first illustration back in 1899 for The Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf. For forty years the artist turned to Russian folk tales and epics. His drawings lived on the pages of children's books, and on the theater stages of St. Petersburg, Prague, Paris.

Boris Dekhterev

Boris Dekhterev. Illustration for the work "Puss in Boots". 1949 Photo: kids-pix.blogspot.ru

Boris Dekhterev. Year unknown. Photo: artpanorama.su

Boris Dekhterev. Illustration for the work "Little Red Riding Hood". 1949 Photo: fairyroom.ru

Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots and Little Thumb, heroes of Alexander Pushkin's fairy tales, received watercolor portraits from a light brush by Boris Dekhterev. The famous illustrator created the "strict and noble appearance of the children's book." Professor of the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute devoted thirty years of his creative life not only to teaching students: Boris Dekhterev was the chief artist at the Children's Literature publishing house and opened the door to the world of fairy tales for many generations of young readers.

Vladimir Suteev

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the work "Who said meow". 1962 Photo: wordpress.com

Vladimir Suteev. Year unknown. Photo: subscribe.ru

Vladimir Suteev. Illustration for the work "A bag of apples". 1974 Photo: lliber.ru

Illustrations that look like cartoon frames frozen on book pages were created by Vladimir Suteev, one of the first Soviet animators. Suteev came up with not only picturesque images for the classics - fairy tales by Korney Chukovsky, Samuil Marshak, Sergei Mikhalkov - but also his own stories. Working in a children's publishing house, Suteev wrote about forty instructive and witty tales: "Who said meow?", "A bag of apples", "A lifesaver". These were books loved by many generations of kids, in which, as one would like in childhood, there were more pictures than text.

Viktor Chizhikov

Viktor Chizhikov. Illustration for the work "Doctor Aibolit". 1976 Photo: fairyroom.ru

Viktor Chizhikov. Year unknown. Photo: dic.academic.ru

Viktor Chizhikov. Illustration for the work "The Adventures of Chippolino". 1982 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

Only a master of creating touching images for children's books could move an entire stadium to tears. This is what happened to Viktor Chizhikov, who drew the Olympic bear in 1980, and was also the author of illustrations for hundreds of children's books: Viktor Dragunsky, Mikhail Plyatskovsky, Boris Zakhoder, Hans Christian Andersen, Nikolai Nosov, Eduard Uspensky. For the first time in the history of Russian children's literature, collections of books with illustrations by the artist were published, including the twenty-volume edition "Visiting V. Chizhikov." "It has always been a joy for me to draw a children's book"- said the artist himself.

Evgeny Charushin

Evgeny Charushin. Illustrations for the work "Volchishko". 1931 Photo: weebly.com

Evgeny Charushin. 1936 Photo: lib.ru

Evgeny Charushin. Illustrations for the work "Children in a Cage". 1935 Photo: wordpress.com

Charushin read books about animals since childhood, and Alfred Brehm's Life of Animals was his favorite. The future artist re-read it many times, and at an older age he went to a stuffed workshop near the house to draw from nature. This is how the animal painter was born, who, after graduating from the Academy of Arts, devoted his work to the design of children's stories about animals. Outstanding illustrations by Charushin for Vitaly Bianchi's book were even acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery. And while working with Samuil Marshak on the book "Children in a Cage", at the insistence of the writer, Charushin tried to write. So his stories "Tomka", "Volchishko" and others appeared.

Ivan Semenov

Ivan Semyonov. Illustrations for the work "Dreamers". 1960 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

Ivan Semyonov. Year unknown. Photo: colory.ru

Ivan Semyonov. Illustration for the work "The Living Hat". 1962 Photo: planetaskazok.ru

The creator of the famous Pencil and the entire children's magazine "Funny Pictures" began with caricatures. For the sake of his beloved work, he had to leave the Medical Institute, because there was simply no time to draw because of his studies. The artist's first recognition as a child was brought by illustrations for Nikolai Nosov's funny stories "Dreamers" and "The Living Hat", and the circulation of the book "Bobik Visiting Barbos" with Semenov's illustrations exceeded three million copies. In 1962, Ivan Semyonov, together with Agnia Barto, traveled with an exhibition of Soviet children's books throughout England. By that time, the artist headed the editorial office of "Funny Pictures" and knew literally everything about children's literature and the life of Soviet children.

Many do not understand at all why illustrations are needed if the book is not intended for a child. By the way, a book illustration is not just a thematic drawing, but an integral part of the work, which complements the text and makes it a little more accessible to the reader. Of course, modern illustrations are fundamentally different from classical book engravings, but even among them you can find not just worthy works, but real masterpieces. In addition, at one time great painters were engaged in the creation of illustrations, for whom writing canvases with a literary basis was akin to an experiment.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin was one of the first Russian painters who began to create illustrations for Russian folk tales and epics. The first book with his illustrations was published when the young artist was 25 years old. As a rule, Bilibin worked on books that had a small volume or the so-called "notebooks". A characteristic feature of the artist was the style of design, according to which both the text and the illustrations were a single whole. Therefore, in the books designed by Bilibin, the drawings were given exactly the same amount of space as the text. All Bilibin's illustrations, which had a fabulously festive character with features of folk art, were created using a unique technology. The artist first made a drawing with a pencil on tracing paper, transferred it to a sheet of drawing paper and, using a thin brush, outlined the image with a black line, after which he proceeded to coloring. Among the most famous works of Bilibin are illustrations for the fairy tales “Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka”, “Vasilisa the Beautiful”, “Finist the Clear Falcon”, “The Frog Princess”, as well as for the works of A.S. Pushkin “Lukomorye”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan..." and "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel".

Another outstanding artist, as well as a talented illustrator, was Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov, the creator of a whole gallery of images for children's books. Vasnetsov spent all his childhood and youth in the city of Vyatka, which became his inspiration and prompted him to create a number of illustrations reflecting the everyday and festive life of a small provincial town. Vasnetsov's style is very recognizable: it always contains bright colors, ornate patterns, backgrounds and images containing pink, blue, yellow and red colors. Color plays a key role in Vasnetsov's illustrations. Another characteristic feature of Yu.A. Vasnetsov is that the artist creates an amazing fairy-tale world - the world of childhood, where there is no cruelty and where good always triumphs over evil. His most famous works are illustrations for children's books "The Fox and the Hare", "Three Bears", "The Wolf and the Goats", "Ruffs Kids", "Fifty Pigs" and so on.

Book illustrations by Russian artists are unique in their kind, truly beautiful, bright, kind and very sincere. They are rich in color, interesting images and ease of perception. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the Russian people are considered the most readable nation in the world.

Artists illustrators

Children's book illustrators. Who are the authors of the most favorite pictures

What's the use of a book, thought Alice.
- if there are no pictures or conversations in it?
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Surprisingly, the children's illustration of Russia (USSR)
there is an exact year of birth - 1925. This year
a department of children's literature was created in the Leningrad
State Publishing House (GIZ). Before this book
with illustrations specially for children were not published.

Who are they - the authors of the most beloved, beautiful illustrations that have been remembered since childhood and our children like?
Learn, remember, share your opinion.
The article was written using the stories of the parents of today's kids and book reviews on the websites of online bookstores.

Vladimir Grigorievich Suteev(1903-1993, Moscow) - children's writer, illustrator and animator. His kind, funny pictures look like frames from a cartoon. Suteev's drawings have turned many fairy tales into masterpieces.
So, for example, not all parents consider the works of Korney Chukovsky a necessary classic, and most of of them does not consider his works talented. But Chukovsky's fairy tales, illustrated by Vladimir Suteev, I want to hold in my hands and read to children.

Boris Alexandrovich Dekhterev (1908-1993, Kaluga, Moscow) - folk artist, Soviet graphic artist (it is believed that the Dekhterev School determined the development of the country's book graphics), illustrator. He worked mainly in the technique of pencil drawing and watercolor. The good old illustrations by Dekhterev are a whole era in the history of children's illustration, many illustrators call Boris Aleksandrovich their teacher.

Dekhterev illustrated children's fairy tales by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen. As well as works by other Russian writers and world classics, such as Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, William Shakespeare.

Nikolay Alexandrovich Ustinov(1937, Moscow), Dekhterev was his teacher, and many modern illustrators already consider Ustinov their teacher.

Nikolai Ustinov - People's Artist, illustrator. Tales with his illustrations were published not only in Russia (USSR), but also in Japan, Germany, Korea and other countries. Almost three hundred works were illustrated by the famous artist for publishing houses: "Children's Literature", "Kid", "Artist of the RSFSR", publishing houses of Tula, Voronezh, St. Petersburg and others. He worked in the Murzilka magazine.
Ustinov's illustrations for Russian folk tales remain the most favorite for children: Three Bears, Masha and the Bear, Sister Chanterelle, Frog Princess, Geese Swans and many others.

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov(1900-1973, Vyatka, Leningrad) - people's artist and illustrator. All kids like his pictures for folk songs, nursery rhymes and jokes (Ladushki, Rainbow-arc). He illustrated folk tales, tales of Leo Tolstoy, Pyotr Ershov, Samuil Marshak, Vitaly Bianchi and other classics of Russian literature.

When buying children's books with illustrations by Yuri Vasnetsov, make sure that the drawings are clear and moderately bright. Using the name famous artist, in recent times often publish books with fuzzy scans of drawings or with increased unnatural brightness and contrast, and this is not very good for children's eyes.

Leonid Viktorovich Vladimirsky(born in 1920, Moscow) - Russian graphic artist and the most popular illustrator of books about A. N. Tolstoy's Pinocchio and A. M. Volkov's Emerald City, thanks to which he became widely known in Russia and other countries former USSR. I painted with watercolors. It is Vladimirsky's illustrations that many recognize as classic for Volkov's works. Well, Pinocchio in the form in which he has been known and loved by several generations of children is undoubtedly his merit.

Viktor Alexandrovich Chizhikov(born in 1935, Moscow) - People's Artist of Russia, author of the image of the bear cub Mishka, the mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The illustrator of the magazine "Crocodile", "Funny Pictures", "Murzilka", for many years he drew for the magazine "Around the World".
Chizhikov illustrated the works of Sergei Mikhalkov, Nikolai Nosov (Vitya Maleev at school and at home), Irina Tokmakova (Alya, Klyaksich and the letter "A"), Alexander Volkov (The Wizard of Oz), poems by Andrey Usachev, Korney Chukovsky and Agnia Barto and other books .

In fairness, it should be noted that Chizhikov's illustrations are rather specific and cartoony. Therefore, not all parents prefer to buy books with his illustrations, if there is an alternative. For example, the books "The Wizard of the Emerald City" are preferred by many with illustrations by Leonid Vladimirsky.

Nikolai Ernestovich Radlov(1889-1942, St. Petersburg) - Russian artist, art critic, teacher. Illustrator of children's books: Agnia Barto, Samuil Marshak, Sergei Mikhalkov, Alexander Volkov. Radlov painted for kids with great pleasure. His most famous book is cartoons for kids "Stories in Pictures". This is a book-album with funny stories about animals and birds. Years have passed, but the collection is still very popular. Stories in pictures were repeatedly reprinted not only in Russia, but also in other countries. At the international children's book competition in America in 1938, the book won second prize.

Alexey Mikhailovich Laptev (1905-1965, Moscow) - graphic artist, book illustrator, poet. The artist's works are in many regional museums, as well as in private collections in Russia and abroad. Illustrated "The Adventures of Dunno and His Friends" by Nikolai Nosov, "Fables" by Ivan Krylov, "Funny Pictures" magazine. The book with his poems and pictures “Pik, Pak, Pok” is already very loved by any generation of children and parents (Briff, a greedy bear, foals Chernysh and Ryzhik, fifty hares and others)

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942, Leningrad) - Russian artist, book illustrator and theater designer. Bilibin illustrated a large number of fairy tales, including those of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He developed his own style - "Bilibino" - a graphic representation, taking into account the traditions of ancient Russian and folk art, carefully traced and detailed patterned contour drawing colored with watercolor. Bilibin's style became popular and began to be imitated.

Fairy tales, epics, images of ancient Rus' for many have long been inextricably linked with Bilibin's illustrations.

Vladimir Mikhailovich Konashevich(1888-1963, Novocherkassk, Leningrad) - Russian artist, graphic artist, illustrator. I started illustrating children's books by accident. In 1918, his daughter was three years old. Konashevich drew pictures for her for each letter of the alphabet. One of my friends saw these drawings, he liked them. So the “ABC in Pictures” was printed - the first book by V. M. Konashevich. Since then, the artist has become an illustrator of children's books.
From the 1930s, illustrating children's literature became the main business of his life. Konashevich also illustrated adult literature, was engaged in painting, painted pictures in a specific technique he liked - ink or watercolor on Chinese paper.

The main works of Vladimir Konashevich:
- illustration of fairy tales and songs different peoples, some of which have been illustrated several times;
- fairy tales by G.Kh. Andersen, Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault;
- "The Old Man-Year-Old" by V. I. Dahl;
- works by Korney Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak.
The last work of the artist was to illustrate all the fairy tales of A. S. Pushkin.

Anatoly Mikhailovich Savchenko (1924-2011, Novocherkassk, Moscow) - cartoonist and illustrator of children's books. Anatoly Savchenko was the production designer for the cartoons "Kid and Carlson" and "Carlson returned" and the author of illustrations for books by Astrid Lindgren. The most famous cartoon works with his direct participation: Moidodyr, the adventures of Murzilka, Petya and Little Red Riding Hood, Vovka in Far Far Away, The Nutcracker, Fly-Tsokotukha, Kesha's parrot and others.
Children are familiar with Savchenko's illustrations from books: “Piggy is offended” by Vladimir Orlov, “Kuzya Brownie” by Tatyana Alexandrova, “Tales for the smallest” by Gennady Tsyferov, “Little Baba Yaga” Preysler Otfried, as well as books with works similar to cartoons.

Oleg Vladimirovich Vasiliev (born in 1931, Moscow). His works are in the collections of many art museums in Russia and the USA, incl. in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Since the 60s, for more than thirty years he has been designing children's books in collaboration with Erik Vladimirovich Bulatov(Born in 1933, Sverdlovsk, Moscow).
The most famous are the artists' illustrations for fairy tales by Charles Perrault and Hans Andersen, poems by Valentin Berestov and fairy tales by Gennady Tsyferov.

Boris Arkadyevich Diodorov(born 1934, Moscow) - People's Artist. Favorite technique - color etching. Author of illustrations for many works of Russian and foreign classics. His most famous illustrations for fairy tales are:

Jan Ekholm "Tutta Karlsson the First and Only, Ludwig the Fourteenth and others";
- Selma Lagerlöf "Niels' amazing journey with wild geese";
- Sergey Aksakov "The Scarlet Flower";
- Hans Christian Andersen's works.

Diodorov has illustrated more than 300 books. His works have been published in the USA, France, Spain, Finland, Japan, South Korea and other countries. He worked as the chief artist of the publishing house "Children's Literature".

Evgeny Ivanovich Charushin (1901-1965, Vyatka, Leningrad) - graphic artist, sculptor, prose writer and children's writer-animalist. Basically, the illustrations are executed in the manner of a free watercolor drawing, with a little humor. Kids love it, even toddlers. Known for illustrations of animals that he drew for his own stories: "About Tomka", "Volchishko and others", "Nikitka and his friends" and many others. He also illustrated other authors: Chukovsky, Prishvin, Bianki. The most famous book with his illustrations is "Children in a Cage" by Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak.

Evgeny Mikhailovich Rachev(1906-1997, Tomsk) - animal painter, graphic artist, illustrator. He illustrated mainly Russian folk tales, fables and fairy tales of the classics of Russian literature. He mainly illustrated works in which the main characters are animals: Russian fairy tales about animals, fables.

Ivan Maksimovich Semyonov(1906-1982, Rostov-on-Don, Moscow) - People's Artist, graphic artist, cartoonist. Semenov worked in the newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda, Pioneer Truth”, magazines “Change”, “Crocodile” and others. Back in 1956, on his initiative, the first humorous magazine for young children in the USSR, “Funny Pictures”, was created.
His most famous illustrations are for Nikolai Nosov's stories about Kolya and Mishka (Dreamers, Living Hat and others) and drawings "Bobik visiting Barbos".

The names of some other famous contemporary Russian children's book illustrators:

- Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Nazaruk(born in 1941, Moscow) is a production designer for dozens of animated films: Little Raccoon, The Adventures of Leopold the Cat, Mom for a mammoth, Bazhov's tales and illustrator of books of the same name.

- Nadezhda Bugoslavskaya(the author of the article did not find biographical information) - the author of good beautiful illustrations for many children's books: Poems and songs of Mother Goose, poems by Boris Zakhoder, works by Sergei Mikhalkov, works by Daniil Kharms, stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko, "Pippi Longstocking" by Astrid Lindgren and others.

- Igor Egunov(the author of the article did not find biographical information) - a contemporary artist, author of bright, well-drawn illustrations for books: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" by Rudolf Raspe, "The Little Humpbacked Horse" by Pyotr Ershov, fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hoffmann, fairy tales about Russian heroes.

- Evgeny Antonenkov(born in 1956, Moscow) - illustrator, favorite technique is watercolor, pen and paper, mixed media. The illustrations are modern, unusual, stand out among others. Some look at them with indifference, others fall in love with funny pictures at first sight.
The most famous illustrations: to the fairy tales about Winnie the Pooh (Alan Alexander Milne), "Russian Children's Tales", poems and fairy tales by Samuil Marshak, Korney Chukovsky, Gianni Rodari, Yunna Moritz. Stupid Horse by Vladimir Levin (English old folk ballads), illustrated by Antonenkov, is one of the most popular books of the outgoing 2011.
Evgeny Antonenkov collaborates with publishing houses in Germany, France, Belgium, USA, Korea, Japan, is a regular participant in prestigious international exhibitions, laureate of the White Crow competition (Bologna, 2004), holder of the Book of the Year diploma (2008).

- Igor Yulievich Oleinikov(born in 1953, Moscow) – animator, mainly works in hand-drawn animation, book illustrator. Surprisingly, such a talented contemporary artist does not have a special art education.
In animation, Igor Oleinikov is known for his films: The Secret of the Third Planet, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Sherlock Holmes and I, and others. Worked with children's magazines "Tram", "Sesame Street" Goodnight, kids! and others.
Igor Oleinikov cooperates with publishing houses in Canada, USA, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Korea, Taiwan and Japan, participates in prestigious international exhibitions.
The most famous illustrations of the artist for books: "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" by John Tolkien, "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" by Erich Raspe, "The Adventures of Despero Mouse" by Kate DiCamillo, "Peter Pan" by James Barry. Recent books with illustrations by Oleinikov: poems by Daniil Kharms, Joseph Brodsky, Andrey Usachev.

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Russians still attract kids folk tales. Who in childhood was not told about the adventures of Kolobok or about the stubborn turnip! And then they started fairy tales. And if there were illustrations for them, then the book was re-read and considered many times. The artist colorfully designed folk tales Ivan Bilibin, which placed the plot drawing in a beautiful, ornamented frame.

Paintings are inimitable Viktor Vasnetsov Ivan Tsarevich and the gray wolf, Alyonushka, inspired by the Russian folk tale Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka, Kashchei the Immortal.

Among the artists who illustrated the plots of Russian folk tales, three artists can be especially distinguished, these are:

Viktor Vasnetsov and his illustrations for the fairy tales Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf The Little Humpbacked Horse, Three Bogatyrs.
Ivan Bilibin who illustrated a lot of folk tales
you also need to remember the artists Boris Zvorykin and Evgeny Rachev.

The literary life of any child begins with fairy tales. And first of all, what the baby looks at is in the illustration for fairy tales. The child does not know how to read letters, but he reads a fairy tale from pictures. Therefore, it is very important which artist illustrates the fairy tale.

Famous domestic children's illustrators are: Ivan Bilibin (for example, he illustrated the fairy tale The Frog Princess), Viktor Vasnetsov (drawing for such wonderful fairy tales as Konk the Humpbacked Man and the Firebird), Yury Vasnetsov (Teremok).

First of all, I want to remind you of such a person as Ivan Bilibin - he made a huge number of illustrations for both folk tales and Pushkin's tales.

Also engaged in the creation of illustrations specifically for fairy tales and Boris Zworykin.

Evgeny Rachv is also an illustrator of fairy tales.

A very famous artist Ivan Bilibin, his illustrations adorned collections of Russian folk tales. The illustrations were drawn for children, half of the text and half of the picture. So it was clearer for the little ones.

And this is one of the illustrations by Ivan Bilibin.

Artists who painted different characters of fairy tales in their paintings. Ivan Bilibin, for example, painted beautiful pictures. Viktor Vasnetsov also drew characters from fairy tales, for example from the fairy tale The Little Humpbacked Horse.

Folk tales are one of the favorite genres of folklore. They reflect the life of the people, their traditions and rituals, usually they have an instructive and educational meaning.

Children love folk tales. After all, this type of creativity is very easy and accessible for their understanding.

Illustrators made a huge contribution to conveying the plot of the fairy tale to the reader. We present many heroes of fairy tales exactly as we saw in the pictures.

Notable illustrators include

Ivan Bilibin (The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, The Frog Princess, Vasilisa the Beautiful),

Viktor Vasnetsov (Humpbacked Horse, Firebird, Ivan Tsarevich on a Gray Wolf)

Yuri Vasnetsov (Three Bears, The Little Humpbacked Horse).

Evgenia Rachva (created many illustrations for Russian folk tales).

It is necessary to separate artists who painted pictures on fairy tales and artists who painted illustrations for printed editions of Russian fairy tales. Of the first, it is necessary to name, first of all, Viktor Vasnetsov, who in his work turned specifically to fairy tales - this is Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf and the Bogatyrs. Vasnetsov was also engaged in illustrations of books, for example, the Little Humpbacked Horse Ershov, but this is not quite a folk tale.

Of the illustrators of fairy tales, of course, one should recall Ivan Bilibin, who made the most famous illustrations of Pushkin's fairy tales and many folk tales:

And of course, one cannot forget the genius of fairy tale illustration, my favorite artist of this genre, Evgeny Rachev, who illustrated the great sea of folk tales:

Since childhood, I have kept wonderful books of Russian folk tales, the illustrations of which are probably more interesting than the fairy tales themselves. First of all, the luxurious paintings of the Vasnetsov brothers come to mind. I remember reproductions of paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov, Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf, hanging on the wall of my great-grandmother's house and the Knights at the Crossroads, known as the Three Heroes

I still love to look at illustrations for Ivan Bilibin's fairy tales, and I am very proud that at home there is a rare edition of Bilibin's drawings - a large colorful album with sketches and ready-made illustrations.

Of the works of women artists, I really like the illustrations for the fairy tales of Elena Almazova and Inna Anfilofyeva and the magical, precise micro-details in the drawings of Elena Polenova (who, by the way, is the sister of the famous artist Vasily Polenov).

And the drawings for Boris Zworykin's fairy tales resemble illustrations for real ones. historical events: details of costumes, household items are very accurately conveyed ...

There are many artists-illustrators of fairy tales and epics. I only remembered my loved ones.

The book The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Bogatyrs of Pushkin with illustrations by Boris Zvorykin immediately appeared before my mind's eye - such a bright ornamental decorative effect, a sensitive Russian harmonious tradition. Few people know that Boris Zworykin, apart from book illustration He was also engaged in icon painting, was a translator. He was born in Moscow, in Russian Empire 1897, and died in 1942 in Paris, where he emigrated in 1921.

His illustrations are not to be confused with others.

The sister of the famous painter Vasily Polenov, Elena Polenova, a watercolor artist, belongs to the same Russian tradition, she was born on November 27, 1850, in St. Petersburg, then women were not allowed to study at universities, but she studied with the best Russian artists: P.P.Chistyakov, I.N.Kramskoy and in Paris with Ch.Chaplain, her illustrations are less decorative, softer

What's the use of a book, thought Alice.

- if there are no pictures or conversations in it?

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"

Surprisingly, the children's illustration of Russia (USSR) has an exact year of birth - 1925. This year, a department of children's literature was created at the Leningrad State Publishing House (GIZ). Before that, there were no books with illustrations specifically for children. Many artists painted pictures based on oral folk art: epics, fairy tales, songs.

Learn, remember, tell the children.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov

(1848-1926) –

one of the first Russian artists who

pushed the boundaries of the usual genres and showed

fairy-tale world, illuminated by poetic fantasy

people.

Vasnetsov one of the first Russian artists

turned to recreating the images of folk tales

and epics in painting.

His childhood passed in the harsh picturesque Vyatka region. A talkative cook who tells fairy tales to children, the stories of wandering people who have seen a lot in their lifetime, according to the artist himself, “made me love the past and present of my people for life, largely determined my path.” Already at the beginning of his work, he created a number of illustrations for the Little Humpbacked Horse and The Fire Bird. In addition to fairy tales, he has works dedicated to the heroic images of epics. "The Knight at the Crossroads", "Three Heroes". The famous painting "Ivan Tsarevich on a gray wolf" is written on the plot of one of the most famous and widespread fairy tales reproduced in popular prints of the 18th century.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin

(1876-1942, Leningrad)

Russian artist, book illustrator and theater

real decorator. Bilibin illustrated

a large number of fairy tales, including A.S.

Pushkin. Developed his own style - "Bilibinsky"

Graphical representation with tradition in mind

ancient Russian and folk art, carefully

traced and detailed patterned contour -

ny drawing, colored with watercolor. Style

Bilibin's style became popular and he became

imitate.

Fairy tales, epics, images of ancient Rus' for many have long been inextricably linked with Bilibin's illustrations.

Vladimir Alekseevich Milashevsky

(1893, Saratov - 1976, Moscow)

He illustrated and artistically designed about 100 books for children and youth. But Milashevsky never belonged to the so-called "children's" artists. With the same success, he illustrated the works of classics of world literature and Soviet writers. It is difficult to list everything he worked on - his creative range is extremely wide.

What is the secret of his success with children and youth? In fact, there is no secret. He just always followed the rule:everything should be done for children as well as for adults, and even better. He never made friends with children, did not "lisp", did not imitate children's drawings, did not try to speak with them in some special, supposedly understandable "childish" language. When illustrating a children's book, whatever it was, he put all of himself into his drawings, really got carried away by it and captivated young readers. And perhaps that is why both children and young people love the books he illustrated so much.

Fabulous colors by Vladimir Milashevsky

Vladimir Grigorievich Suteev

(1903-1993, Moscow)

Children's writer, illustrator and animator. His kind, funny pictures look like frames from a cartoon. Suteev's drawings have turned many fairy tales into masterpieces.

So, for example, not all parents consider the works of Korney Chukovsky to be a necessary classic, and most of them do not consider his works to be talented. But Chukovsky's fairy tales, illustrated by Vladimir Suteev, I want to hold in my hands and read to children.

Boris Alexandrovich Dekhterev

(1908-1993, Kaluga, Moscow) –

People's Artist, Soviet graphic artist, illustrator. He worked mainly in the technique of pencil drawing and watercolor. The good old illustrations by Dekhterev are a whole era in the history of children's illustration, many illustrators call Boris Aleksandrovich their teacher.

Nikolay Alexandrovich Ustinov

(born in 1937, Moscow)

Dekhterev was his teacher, and many modern illustrators already consider Ustinov their teacher.

Tales with his illustrations were published not only in Russia (USSR), but also in Japan, Germany, Korea and other countries. Almost three hundred works were illustrated by the famous artist for children's publishing houses of the USSR, he worked in the Murzilka magazine. The most beloved for children are Ustinov's illustrations for Russian folk tales "Three Bears", "Masha and the Bear", "Sister Chanterelle", "The Frog Princess", "Geese Swans" and many others.

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov

(1900-1973, Vyatka, Leningrad) -

National artist and illustrator. His

Pictures for folk songs, amuse-

Cams and jokes like all the kids

(Ladushki, Rainbow-arc). He illustrated

folk tales, tales of Leo Tolstoy,

Petr Ershova, Samuil Marshak, Vitaly

Bianchi and other classics of Russian literature.

“I love remembering my childhood. When I write, draw, I live by what I remember and saw in my childhood, ”said Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov.

When buying children's books with illustrations by Yuri Vasnetsov, make sure that the drawings are clear and moderately bright. Using the name of a famous artist, recently books are often published with fuzzy scans of drawings or with increased unnatural brightness and contrast, and this is not very good for children's eyes.