Discovering any fairy tale with illustrations by I.Ya. Bilibina (1876–1942) immediately embraces a sense of nostalgia for childhood. These fabulous, magnificent, "peeped out to holes" illustrations are striking in that each time they open in a new way. They can be considered endlessly. The master of Russian fairy-tale illustration began his career even before 1900. He was an excellent painter, but the gift of a graphic illustrator outweighed everything. It is interesting that many people represent Bilibin as a gray-bearded old man-storyteller, and yet at the time of the creation of his very first "fairy-tale" illustrations, he was no more than 25 years old. He looked a spectacular handsome dandy. All the works of Bilibin have their own style, not like the work of other illustrators. We will talk about the most famous illustrations of Ivan Yakovlevich in our article.
Portrait of a young Bilibin brush Kustodiev
Bilibino masterpieces
1
Ivan Tsarevich (1899)
This is the first fairy tale, which was framed by the artist from beginning to end. The magic of these illustrations conquers. You can find out the content without reading a fairy tale. Magic heroes Gray Wolf, Firebird, Koschey and many others excite the imagination. The magnificence of the drawings is framed in a patterned frame, which emphasizes the beauty of the Russian fairy tale. The technique for performing the drawings is chromolithography.
2
Vasilisa the Beautiful (1899)
The powerful image of Baba Yaga for the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful" can be considered as a separate work. The sight of an old woman flying in a stupa inspires fear and awe. Her white cosmas flutter in the wind. This character fits perfectly into the terrible magical landscape. Glade of impenetrable forest is covered with fly agaric, trees are gloomy, there is practically no crown on spruce trees.
Behind Baba Yaga there is a solid black haze - everything is dead around. But, despite this, the mistress of the magic forest is endowed with sympathy for good heroes. She helped Vasilisa get out of the forest, handing her a skull with “burning eyes”.
3
The Frog Princess (1899-1900)
Everyone who has ever read a fairy tale about the Frog Princess in childhood is familiar with this picture. That is precisely how the meeting of the prince and the enchanted princess seems to be. A little frog with a boot with a bent toe ... swamps and impenetrable forest. Around the picture is a patterned frame along which the inhabitants of the swamps are jumping.
And by the way, frogs can also be beautiful only in fairy tales, but also in reality. See pictures of beautiful frogs on our site most-beauty.ru.
4
Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka (1901)
The artist places the heroes of a fairy tale in beautiful Russian landscapes. All illustrations are made in graphics. A simple black outline of a drawing with watercolor filling does not prevent the illustration from being interesting.
The young king, hiding behind the trees, watches as a white goat calls his sister Alyonushka on the seashore. The wind shakes the trees and drives gray clouds. The sea boils and throws foamy waves ashore. The drawing is expertly balanced. A large figure of the king in bright clothes does not outweigh the little white kid. The landscape, the pose of the king and the kid create an atmosphere of anxiety.
5
White duck, 1902
The laconicism and fabulous beauty of the illustration carries enormous information about the Russian landscape, architecture, customs and costumes. The artist pays special attention to the composition of the drawing. She is flawless. A huge number of details and 7 primary colors are miraculously combined into a fabulous picture.
6
Ilya the Prophet and Nikolai the Miracle Worker (1932)
Some of Bilibin's works were a bit provocative. During the years of the total destruction of the Russian Orthodox Church, the creation of illustrations related to Orthodoxy was a very bold step. The images of Elijah the prophet and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are very close to Russian people. They are depicted against the backdrop of a Russian village, in simple peasant rafts. Meeting ordinary people, they help, answer their questions, give advice.
7
The Little Mermaid (1937)
Illustrations to Andersen's tales were a huge success in the Soviet Union. The image of the tender and unhappy Little Mermaid, who sacrificed her life for unrequited love, was especially successful. Her dream of life in the form of a person could be realized only through suffering and torment. Is it not true that this is close to the Russian soul?
8
Illustrations to Russian Epics (1940–1941)
A premonition of the beginning of a terrible war called the artist to work on such large-scale and patriotic works as Russian epics and "The Word about Igor's Regiment". The Russian Museum stores illustrations for these works. Ilya Muromets, Mikula Selyaninovich, the squad of Prince Igor delight with their heroism. Working on these images, the artist turned to the origins of ancient Russian literature.
Particularly vivid illustrations came out at the beginning of World War II. Bilibin portrayed the greatness and victory of the Russian army. In one of the illustrations, Russian heroes in shining armor chase invaders from their land. These works inspired confidence in victory and supreme justice in readers.
9
They do not run from the besieged fortress, they protect it
Professor of the Academy of Arts I.Ya. Bilibin served Russia until the end of his days. Citizen, patriot, artist I.Ya. Bilibin with his work made a huge contribution to the victory over fascism. During the war he remained in the besieged Leningrad. At this time, he creates posters, postcards for the front, caricatures, writes articles with an appeal to the defenders of Leningrad.
In the winter of 1942, a bomb hit his house, and he had to spend the night in the cold room of the Academy of Arts. His life was cut short from cold and hunger on February 7, 1942. The great Russian illustrator was buried, along with other dead Academy professors, in a mass grave in the Smolensk cemetery.
The editors of most-beauty.ru asks you to write in the comments your personal attitude to the illustrations of Ivan Yakovlevich. Write what work Bilibin forever deposited in your memory? We end the article with a few more illustrations:
Ivan Tsarevich and the Firebird, 1899
Vasilisa the Beautiful and White Horseman, 1900
The Red Horseman, 1900
Illustration for the saying “Once upon a time there was a king ...”, 1900