Yuri Vasnetsov. Book "Famous Yuri Vasnetsov", edited

“When I was a child, my mother read all the books and fairy tales to me. And so did my nanny. The fairy tale entered into me...
The publishing house gives me the text. I take the one I like. And sometimes there is no fairy tale in it. It happens that it is only four or even two lines, and you can’t make a fairy tale out of them. And I'm looking for a fairy tale... I always remember who the book will be for." Yu. Vasnetsov

One example of a combination of a book of remarkable quality + competent popularization of creativity and preservation of heritage is books about Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov, which are published by his daughter Elizaveta Yuryevna Vasnetsova.

A long time ago I showed the first book from Vasnetsov’s series “The Unknown Yuri Vasnetsov”. It was released in 2011. And a year later a sequel was released: “The Famous Yuri Vasnetsov”!

"The famous Yuri Vasnetsov." Materials for the biography of the great artist. 106 lifetime publications: description, official press, responses from readers and colleagues. Pskov regional printing house, 2012. 480 p. Under the general editorship of E.Yu. Vasnetsova.

The publisher's foreword is so good that I'm sorry to chop it up into quotes. Let it be in its entirety:

"This book is nostalgia. For all forty-year-olds and others who carefully preserve their children's books, books of their parents, grandparents; for collectors who, in search of Detgiz's masterpieces, spend hours on the Internet and spend time in used bookstores. A thin children's book - a perishable product. It has multi-million copies, a cheap price. When it gets into children's hands, the book gets spoiled, gets dirty, gets read, and rarely survives in the hands of children. and “Funny Pictures”, tied with twine, are weighed on scales and go for processing for the so-called waste paper editions. Who among us did not have “The Boat Sails and Sails” with drawings by Konashevich, “The Stolen Sun” with drawings by Vasnetsov, “. Luggage" with illustrations by Lebedev! Do you remember the "Library" series? kindergarten"? There were so many good, beautifully designed books! What a wonderful format, what colors, what paper!

And what magnificent artists! People involved in printing understand: what was printed on captured post-war equipment cannot be repeated on ultra-modern Japanese-German machines. The colors have changed, the paper has changed, the attitude towards the book has changed. Everything is in the past. This book is dedicated to the work of one of the best children's book illustrators of the 20th century, Yuri Vasnetsov. We were prompted to work by a recently published book - materials for the biography of the great artist “Unknown Yuri Vasnetsov”. Since the title of the book was somewhat provocative, since the name of the artist is widely known, we had no choice but to call ours - “Famous Yuri Vasnetsov,” especially since this is a book about books, the first attempt in Russian book science to systematize the work of Yuri Vasnetsov as an illustrator of children's books. books. (A story about Yuri Vasnetsov - a painter, the creator of a series of magnificent prints and the author of drawings in children's magazines "Murzilka", "Funny Pictures", "Koster" - in the future.) This publication, as we see it, is the first attempt to systematize the entire work of one artist - from the first edition, the book “Karabash” in 1929, to the last lifetime edition, “What are we doing” in 1973. The publishers have conscientiously collected everything that they could find, but they rightly believe that there may be publications from the period of the Great Patriotic War that we have not taken into account. Patriotic War, publications of the 20-30s. We will be grateful for the help of bibliographers and collectors - for additions, corrections and any information about unknown facts and lifetime publications of Yuri Vasnetsov. The appearance of such masterpieces of illustration as “The Stolen Sun”, “Three Bears”, “Cat’s House” and so on and so forth could not have happened without a brilliant environment - his artist friends and teachers in the creation of children’s illustrated books: V. Lebedeva , V. Konashevich, V. Tambi, V. Kurdov, A. Pakhomov, E. Charushin, N. Tyrsa. I would like to think that we will set an example for our colleagues to publish this kind of publications about the work of artists from the golden age of children's illustrated books. The history of children's books of the 20th century awaits its Karamzin. We publish materials for the biography of only one of the artists. The publishing principle is as follows:

A scientific description is given, the cover and back are reproduced (as a rule, if it contains an element of drawing);
- the best, in our opinion, illustrations are given, as well as
- sketches, sketches, drawings;
- the brightest ones are published critical articles, including abusive ones from the 30s and 40s;
- in addition, photographs are published;
- letters, memoirs, business documents related to the publishing process. Mostly previously unpublished materials were selected. To make the reading process easier, not all illustrations are captioned. In the section “Lifetime Editions”, containing required elements- cover, back, title page, illustrations from a specific book, these elements are provided without captions. For other illustrations - photographs, sketches, letters, objects applied creativity and others - signatures are given. A bibliographic list of sources used with extended descriptions is presented in chronological order at the end of the publication. In-text and interlinear references to sources are given in abbreviated form.

The publishers express gratitude to the custodians of the family archive - daughters Elizaveta Yuryevna and Natalya Yuryevna Vasnetsov, the library of the publishing house "Young Guard" and personally E.I. Ivanova and L.V. Petrov, as well as S.G. Kosyanov - for help in publishing this book.

Let's look at the book first. Horizontal layout, fabric binding, strap. The cover is completely consistent with the style of the series.

on the fabric there is a relief drawing by Vasnetsov: The Little Humpbacked Horse

And the endpapers are very interesting: they show a fragment of a tapestry from an unidentified factory based on illustrations by Yu. Vasnetsov. Counterfeit product of the early 21st century!

From the publisher
Erast Kuznetsov "About the book graphics of Yuri Vasnetsov"
Elizaveta Vasnetsova "How dad worked on a book"
Lifetime editions (the main part of the book from pp. 49-419)
Key dates of life and work
List of lifetime publications
Valentin Kurbatov "Knocking, strumming along the street..."

First, about what's around. There are a lot of interesting things around lifetime publications! These are photographs published for the first time, and not ceremonial portraits, which can easily be inserted into any publication, be it an article in a magazine or a book. And these are momentary, random ones, which do not seem to be suitable as a “title photo”, but for those who value every bit of information and memory about the artist, these photographs will bring joy, they fit perfectly here into the accompanying materials - like this photograph from the 1960s X

or a photograph from a small feast at home (not Vasnetsov’s noisy celebrations, but together with Vladimir Vasilyevich, modestly. And then a masterpiece artistic telegram to the hero of the day from the Lebedevs:

Elizaveta Vasnetsova's articles are richly illustrated with archival materials: photographs, documents, sketches, sketches. Here, for example, are sketches for S. Marshak’s book “English Folk Songs”, 1943

and here is a sketch for it - and an excerpt from such a warm and sincere article by Elizaveta Yuryevna “How Dad Worked on a Book”

Or the “storyboard” of the illustration “A ship runs across the blue sea” for the book “Rainbow-Arc” 1965-1968: first a sketch of the illustration (glass, watercolor, whitewash)

then drawing (paper, graphite pencil)

and then the illustration itself (paper, watercolor, whitewash, ink)

Well, now the main part of the book is the reproduction of 106 lifetime publications, accompanied by press clippings, responses from readers and colleagues, as well as numerous additional materials. From the very first book “Karabash” to the last one in my lifetime. The artist’s career from 1929 to 1973, almost half a century!

Finally, there is an opportunity to look at the fantastic book “Swamp”, which Erast Davydovich Kuznetsov talked about so temptingly in “The Bear is Flying, twirling its tail”:

"...The book "Swamp" was published in 1931 - the third, but I would like to consider it the first, because Vasnetsov began, of course, not with "Karabash" and not with "How Dad Shot My Ferret", but precisely with "Swamp" .<...>

Indeed, this book is strange, some kind of monster, if you look at it impartially. You can't compare it with either the first or the second - it's all awkward and awkward. It is not clear what it is about and why. Doesn't fit into any genre. It would be hard to classify it as an “educational book about the life of nature”: the pictures are not very clear, jumbled, confused.<...>

Many people wrote with admiration about the originality of "Swamp". This admiration can be understood by anyone who was lucky enough to see Vasnetsov’s drawings at one of his exhibitions or in the collections of the Russian Museum, where they are stored, and appreciate their rare pictorial richness - richness of color, richness of texture.”

Each book has a cover, back

Sometimes - internal pages, sometimes - additional materials - sketches

toys and objects that Yuri Alekseevich held in his hands

The artist’s achievements are very interesting: for example, on the page of the illustration for the book “Shah-Rooster”

there are sketches by the artist: it is known that when Vasnetsov illustrated folk tales, he worked very carefully in museums and libraries, studied ethnographic sources

The imprint and description are given very completely: even information is included where the book was printed

In conclusion, I would like to draw attention to very important words from the publishers’ preface: “I would like to think that we will set an example for our colleagues to publish this kind of publications about the work of artists of the golden age of children’s illustrated books. The history of children’s books of the 20th century is waiting for its Karamzin. We publish materials to the biography of only one of the artists." I liked that the publishers are so welcoming to share their thoughts and invite everyone to follow them and start publishing similar books about other masters of the book. It’s great that they don’t put a bold patent and copyright mark on their idea of systematizing the artist’s publications.

A wonderful book, thanks to Elizaveta Yuryevna Vasnetsova!

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND YOUTH AFFAIRS OF THE RF

PETROZAVODSK PEDAGOGICAL COLLEGE

Preschool department

Abstract

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov

Completed:

Irina Vladimirovna Bogomolova

Alena Nikolaevna Gurkova

Anna Valerievna Skrynnik

Natalya Vladimirovna Popova

students of group 431

Checked:

Dranevich L.V.

PPC teacher

Petrozavodsk 2005

CHAPTER 1 Biography of Yu.A. Vasnetsova……………………………………..3-5

CHAPTER 2 Features of the image of Vasnetsov’s illustrations……………6-7

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………8

APPENDIX………………………………………………………………9-12

LIST OF REFERENCES……………………………13

CHAPTER 1 Biography of Yu.A. Vasnetsova

Yu.A. Vasnetsov was born (1900 - 1973) in Vyatka, in the family of a Vyatka priest, and was distantly related to Victor and Apollinary Vasnetsov. Mother knitted, embroidered, and wove lace. The combination of cream, marsh greens, and pale blue in lace could serve as a lesson to the young painter. Paternal influence- other: character - perseverance, go to the end in any matter, be devoted, true to your word. Sisters - from them kindness, sacrifice, love. All roads are for Yurochka. But he also gave gifts and loved passionately. Kolya Kostrov and Zhenya Charushin are artist-friends for life in Vyatka and Leningrad. With Arkady Rylov, an academician (a student of Kuindzhi), Yuri wrote sketches as a boy, and then studied in his workshop at the Academy.

Obsessed with the desire to become an artist, he came to Petrograd in 1921 and entered the painting department of the State Art Museum (later VKHUTEMAS), studying with A.E. Kareeva, M.V. Matyushkina, K.S. Malevich and N.A. Tyrsa; He successfully completed his studies in 1926. The most interesting thing about Matyushin is color. You paint a Christmas tree in the sunset sky, so you need to find a beautiful third color and place it between the object and the environment so that all three colors sparkle. And although Yuri studied materiality, objectivity, playing with form, with pictorial texture in graduate school from Malevich, he never forgot Matyushin’s color-cohesion. In the best children's illustrations and paintings, of course, he used the principles of the Matyushin school.

In the 1930s He became famous for his illustrations for the books “Swamp”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse” (see appendix) by P. P. Ershov, “Fifty Little Pigs”, “The Stolen Sun” by K. I. Chukovsky, “Three Bears” by L. I. Tolstoy. At the same time, he made excellent - elegant and fascinating - lithographic prints for children, based on the same plot motifs.

During the war years, spent first in Molotov (Perm), then in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), where he was the chief artist of the Institute of Toys, Vasnetsov performed poetic illustrations for “English folk songs” by S. Ya. Marshak (1943), and then for his book "Cat's House" (1947). New success was brought to him by illustrations for the folklore collections “The Miracle Ring” (1947) and “Fables in Faces” (1948). Vasnetsov worked unusually intensively, varying the themes and images dear to him many times. A peculiar result of his many years of activity was the widespread famous collections"Ladushki" (1964) and "Rainbow-Arc" 1969 (see appendix). In Vasnetsov’s bright, entertaining and witty drawings, Russian folklore found perhaps the most organic embodiment; more than one generation of young readers grew up on them, and during his lifetime he himself was recognized as a classic in the field of children’s books.

Meanwhile book graphics constituted only one side of his work. The main goal of Vasnetsov’s life was always painting, and he pursued this goal with fanatical tenacity: he worked independently, studied under the guidance of K. S. Malevich in Ginkhuk, and studied graduate school at the All-Russian Academy of Arts.

In 1932-34. he finally created several works (“Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Chessboard” (see appendix), etc.), in which he showed himself to be a very great master who successfully combined the refined pictorial culture of his time with the tradition of folk art "market" art, which he appreciated and loved. But this late self-discovery coincided with the campaign against formalism that began then. Fearing ideological persecution (which had already affected his book graphics), Vasnetsov made painting a secret activity and showed it only to close people.

CHAPTER 2 Features of the image of Vasnetsov’s illustrations

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov created a bright, unique miter of fairy-tale images, close and understandable to every child.

The pensive forest region where the artist was born and raised, his childhood impressions of the “Whistlers” toy fair with elegant Dymkovo lady dolls, brightly painted roosters, and horses had a noticeable influence on his work. Many characters in Yu.A.’s drawings Vasnetsov are similar to images born of folk fantasy. For example, the horses in the illustrations for the nursery rhymes “Ivanushka” and “The Horse” are very similar to the Dymkovo horse.

The closer you get to know Vasnetsov’s works, the more you admire the richness of his creative imagination: the artist painted so many animals and they are all very different. Everyone has their own character, their own manner of behavior, their own style of clothing. In the illustration for the nursery rhyme “Mice,” Yuri Alekseevich depicted a round dance of nineteen little mice: the mouse girls have bright skirts decorated with stripes, and the boys have colorful shirts with buttons.

The artist introduced a lot of fun inventions and games into the illustrations for the nursery rhyme “Kitsonka”. The fairy mill is very decorative. It is decorated with arcs, dots, wavy and broken lines. The wings of the mill are woven from old light shingles. There lives a cute little mouse at the mill. He climbed onto the windowsill and looks out the window with interest. Around the mill there are amazing magical flowers that are so beautifully illuminated by the sun. Kisonka put the gingerbread cookies in a large wicker basket. The gingerbread cookies are white, with beautiful patterns and very tasty! Despite the fact that the nursery rhyme says nothing about who Kisonka met on the way, the artist himself came up with and depicted this meeting.

Yu.A. bears a very large burden in his works. Vasnetsova color. He often exudes joy. And in the illustrations for the nursery rhymes “Jump-Jump” and “Horse”, the bright yellow background not only conveys the picture of a warm sunny day, but also enhances the perception of the images created by the artist. The dark brown figures of baby squirrels are clearly visible against the yellow background, walking importantly along the bridge. Thanks to the light background, we see their fluffy fur and admire the tufts on their ears.

Although in the drawings of Yu.A. Vasnetsov's birds and animals look like toys, but at the same time they are very original and expressive. Fairy-tale images, born of the artist’s imagination, are close and understandable to children, because he found an artistic form that most accurately corresponds to the characteristics of children’s perception.

A born artist appears to the world with his own language and theme. When Yuri Vasnetsov was asked what his favorite colors were, he answered unexpectedly: “I love black paint, it helps with contrast. Ocher is like gold. I like English red because of the materiality of the color.” That’s right, these are colors that in ancient Russian icons denote divine energy. The concept of the power and materiality of the energy flow entered the artist’s subconscious in the temple while contemplating icons: his father served in the Vyatka Cathedral. Yuri Vasnetsov did not like to theorize, but, taking painting seriously and thoughtfully, he intuitively and experimentally moved towards the concept of “color tone” (tone - tension), achieving lighting effects not plein airistically or impressionistically, but making the very flesh of the painting, texture, material glow - colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, oil. Its color spot is consistent in light intensity with its neighbors and a dull, velvety, restrained, open, bright, contrasting, different, but always harmonious coloring is born.

CONCLUSION.

Yu.A. Vasnetsov is a wonderful artist and storyteller. Kindness, calmness, and humor are characteristic of his work. His drawings are always a holiday for young and old. This is a master who is closely and organically connected with the traditions of Russian folk art and at the same time enriched with the experience of modern visual culture. Vasnetsov’s originality lies in the fact that the themes of his paintings and drawings are deeply rooted in national folklore.

In his drawings for children, Yu.A. Vasnetsov talentedly combined fairy tales and reality. And no matter what happens in these illustrations, it is always something good and bright that neither children nor adults want to part with. In Vasnetsov’s illustrations, as in the soul of a child, there lives a simple-minded perception of the world, brightness and spontaneity, so for children they seem to be taken for granted, their own, familiar. For an adult, these drawings are a long-forgotten happiness to immerse yourself in a joyful, naive, benevolent world, where the round-eyed bunny dances so selflessly, the lights in the huts burn so comfortably, the magpie manages homely, where the mice are not afraid of the cat, and the cat is not going to eat them, where such a round and elegant sun, such a blue sky, clouds like fluffy pancakes.

In his landscapes and still lifes, emphatically unpretentious in their motives and extremely sophisticated in their pictorial form, he achieved impressive results, uniquely reviving the traditions of Russian primitivism. But these works were practically unknown to anyone. Only a few years after the artist’s death, his paintings were shown to viewers at an exhibition at the State Russian Museum (1979), and it became clear that Vasnetsov was not only an excellent book graphic artist, but also one of the outstanding Russian painters of the 20th century. Everything in Vasnetsov’s illustrations and paintings is chosen and taken from life. Life is a fairy tale. When Vasnetsov was asked about the most expensive gift he received, he answered: “Life, the life given to me.” Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov died in 1973 in Leningrad.

APPLICATION:

Illustration for the fairy tale by P. P. Ershov "The Little Humpbacked Horse". 1935

Illustration for the book "Rainbow-arc. Russian folk songs, nursery rhymes, jokes." 1969

Still life with a chessboard. 1926-28. Oil

Lady with a mouse. 1932-34. Oil

Teremok. 1947. F., m

Illustration for "The Stolen Sun" by K. Chukovsky. 1958

Illustration for "Rainbow Arc", a collection of Russian folk songs, nursery rhymes, and jokes. 1969

LIST OF REFERENCES USED:

1. Doronova T.N. for preschoolers about children's book artists M.: Prosveshchenie, 1991. – 126 p.

2. Kurochkina N.A. Children about book graphics. St. Petersburg: Aktsident, 1997. – 190 p.

Vasnetsov Yuri Alekseevich (1900-1973)- graphic artist, painter, People's Artist of the RSFSR (1966). Studied at the Academy of Arts (1921-26) with A.E. Kareva, K.S. Petrova-Vodkina, N.A. Tyrsa.

Vasnetsov's work is inspired by the poetics of Russian folklore. The most famous are illustrations for Russian fairy tales, songs, riddles (“Three Bears” by L. N. Tolstoy, 1930; collection “Miracle Ring”, 1947; “Fables in Faces”, 1948; “Ladushki”, 1964; “Rainbow- arc", 1969, State Ave. USSR, 1971). He created individual color lithographs (“Teremok”, 1943; “Zaykina’s hut”, 1948).

After Vasnetsov’s death, his exquisite pictorial stylizations in the spirit of the primitive (“Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, 1932-1934) became known.

Word to the artist Vasnetsov Yu.A.

“I am so grateful to Vyatka - my homeland, my childhood - I saw the beauty!” (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
“I remember spring in Vyatka. The streams are flowing, so stormy, like waterfalls, and we, guys, are launching boats... In the spring, a fun fair opened - Whistling. The fair is elegant and fun. And what not! Clay dishes, pots, jars, jugs. Homespun tablecloths with all sorts of patterns... I really loved Vyatka toys made of clay, wood, plaster horses, cockerels - everything was interesting in color. The carousels at the fair are all covered in beads, all in sparkles - geese, horses, strollers, and always an accordion plays" (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
“Draw, write what you love. Look around you more... You can’t explain everything terribly, or draw it out. When a lot of something has been done and drawn, then naturalism appears. Here, let's say, a flower. Take it, but rework it - let it be a flower, but different. Chamomile - and not chamomile. I like forget-me-nots because they are blue, with a yellow spot in the middle. Lilies of the valley... When I smell them, it seems to me that I am a king..." (Vasnetsov Yu.V. From advice to young artists)
(Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
“In my drawings I try to show a corner beautiful world native Russian fairy tale, instilling in children a deep love for the people, for our Motherland and its generous nature" (Vasnetsov Yu.A.)
When asked what was the most expensive gift he received, the artist answered: “Life. Life given to me"

Yuri Vasnetsov was born on April 4, 1900 in the ancient city of Vyatka, in the family of a priest. Both his grandfather and his father’s brothers belonged to the clergy. Yu.A. Vasnetsov was distantly related to Victor and Apollinary Vasnetsov. The large family of Father Alexy Vasnetsov lived in a two-story house next to the cathedral, in which the priest served. Yura loved this temple very much - the cast-iron tiles of its floor, rough so that the foot would not slip, the huge bell, the oak staircase that led to the top of the bell tower...

The artist absorbed his love for colorful folk culture in his old native Vyatka: “I still live by what I saw and remembered in childhood.”
The entire Vyatka province was famous for its handicrafts: furniture, chests, lace, and toys. And Mother Maria Nikolaevna herself was a noble lacemaker and embroiderer, famous in the city. The towels embroidered with roosters, painted boxes, multi-colored clay and wooden horses, lambs in bright pants, lady dolls - “painted from the heart, from the soul” will remain in the memory of little Yura for the rest of his life.

As a boy, he himself painted the walls of his room, shutters and stoves in his neighbors' houses with bright patterns, flowers, horses and fantastic animals and birds. He knew and loved Russian folk art, and this later helped him draw his amazing illustrations for fairy tales. And the costumes that were worn in his native northern regions, and the festive dresses of horses, and wooden carvings on windows and porches of huts, and painted spinning wheels and embroidery - everything that he saw from an early age was useful to him for fairy-tale drawings. Even as a child, he enjoyed all kinds of manual labor. He sewed boots and bound books, loved to skate and fly kites. Vasnetsov’s favorite word was “interesting.”

After the revolution, all families of priests, including the Vasnetsov family (mother, father and six children), were literally evicted to the streets. “... My father no longer served in the cathedral, which was closed... and he didn’t serve anywhere at all... He would have cheated and resigned his rank, but it was then that his meek firmness of spirit was revealed: he continued to walk in a cassock, with a pectoral cross and long hair,” recalled Yuri Alekseevich. The Vasnetsovs wandered around strange corners and soon bought a small house. Then we had to sell it, we lived in a former bathhouse...
Yuri went to seek his fortune in Petrograd in 1921. He dreamed of becoming an artist. Miraculously, he entered the painting department of the State Art Academy of Art and Art (later Vkhutemas); successfully completed his studies in 1926.

His teachers were the bustling capital Petrograd itself with its European palaces and the Hermitage full of world treasures. They were followed by a long line of many and varied teachers who opened the world of painting to the young provincial. Among them were the academically trained Osip Braz, Alexander Savinov, the leaders of the Russian avant-garde - the “flower artist” Mikhail Matyushin, the Suprematist Kazimir Malevich. And in the “formalistic” works of the 1920s, the individual characteristics of Vasnetsov’s pictorial language testified to the extraordinary talent of the novice artist.

In search of income, the young artist began to collaborate with the department of children's and youth literature of the State Publishing House, where, under the artistic direction of V.V. Lebedeva happily found himself in the interpretation of themes and images of Russian folklore - fairy tales in which his natural craving for humor, grotesque and good irony was best satisfied.
In the 1930s He became famous for his illustrations for the books “Swamp”, “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “Fifty Little Pigs” by K.I. Chukovsky, “Three Bears” by L.I. Tolstoy. At the same time, he made excellent - elegant and fascinating - lithographic prints for children, based on the same plot motifs.

The artist made amazing illustrations for Leo Tolstoy’s fairy tale “The Three Bears”. The big, scary, enchanted forest and the bear's hut are too big for a little lost girl. And the shadows in the house are also dark and eerie. But then the girl ran away from the bears, and the forest immediately brightened in the drawing. This is how the artist conveyed a major mood with paints. It’s interesting to watch how Vasnetsov dresses his heroes. Elegant and festive - the nurse mother-Goat, mother-Cat. He will definitely give them colorful skirts with frills and lace. And he will take pity on the bunny who was offended by the Fox and put on a warm jacket. The artist tried not to dress up the wolves, bears, and foxes that interfere with the lives of good animals: they did not deserve beautiful clothes.

Thus, continuing to search for his path, the artist entered the world of children's books. Purely formal searches gradually gave way to folk culture. The artist increasingly looked back into his “Vyatka” world.
A trip to the North in 1931 finally convinced him of the correctness of his chosen path. He turned to folk sources, already being experienced in the intricacies of modern pictorial language, which gave rise to the phenomenon that we can now call the phenomenon of Yuri Vasnetsov’s painting. The still life with a large fish fully demonstrates new bright trends in Vasnetsov’s works.

On a small red tray, crossing it diagonally, lies a large fish sparkling with silver scales. The unique composition of the painting is akin to a heraldic sign and at the same time a folk rug on the wall of a peasant hut. Using a dense viscous mass of paint, the artist achieves amazing persuasiveness and authenticity of the image. The external contrasts of the planes of red, ocher, black and silver-gray are tonally balanced and give the work the feeling of a monumental painting.

So, book illustrations constituted only one side of his work. The main goal of Vasnetsov’s life was always painting, and he pursued this goal with fanatical tenacity: he worked independently, studied under the guidance of K.S. Malevich in Ginkhuk, studied in graduate school at the All-Russian Academy of Arts.

In 1932-34. he finally created several works (“Lady with a Mouse”, “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, etc.), in which he showed himself to be a very important master who successfully combined the sophisticated pictorial culture of his time with the tradition of folk “bazaar” art, which he appreciated and loved. But this late self-discovery coincided with the campaign against formalism that began then. Fearing ideological persecution (which had already affected his book graphics), Vasnetsov made painting a secret activity and showed it only to close people. In his landscapes and still lifes, emphatically unpretentious in their motives and extremely sophisticated in their pictorial form, he achieved impressive results, uniquely reviving the traditions of Russian primitivism. But these works were practically unknown to anyone.

During the war years, spent first in Molotov (Perm), then in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), where he was the chief artist of the Toy Institute, Vasnetsov performed poetic illustrations for “English folk songs” by S.Ya. Marshak (1943), and then to his own book “Cat House” (1947). New success was brought to him by illustrations for the folklore collections “The Miracle Ring” (1947) and “Fables in Faces” (1948). Vasnetsov worked unusually intensively, varying the themes and images dear to him many times. The well-known collections “Ladushki” (1964) and “Rainbow-Arc” (1969) became a unique result of his many years of activity.

In Vasnetsov’s bright, entertaining and witty drawings, Russian folklore found perhaps the most organic embodiment; more than one generation of young readers grew up on them, and during his lifetime he himself was recognized as a classic in the field of children’s books. In a Russian folk tale, everything is unexpected, unknown, incredible. If you are scared, then you will tremble; if you are joyful, then it is a feast for the whole world. So the artist makes his drawings for the book “Rainbow-Arc” bright and festive - sometimes the page is blue with a bright rooster, sometimes it’s red, and on it is a brown bear with a birch staff.

The artist's difficult life left an indelible mark on his relationships with people. Usually trusting and gentle in character, already being married, he became unsociable. He never exhibited as an artist, never performed anywhere, citing the upbringing of his two daughters, one of whom, the eldest, Elizaveta Yuryevna, would later become a famous artist.
Leaving home and family, even for a short time, was a tragedy for him. Any separation from the family was unbearable, and the day when they had to set off was a ruined day.
Before leaving the house, Yuri Alekseevich even shed a tear from grief and melancholy, but still did not forget to put some gift or cute trinket under everyone’s pillow. Even friends gave up on this homebody - a man for great art has disappeared!

Until his old age, Yuri Alekseevich’s favorite reading remained fairy tales. And my favorite pastime is writing oil paints still lifes, landscapes, illustrating fairy tales, and in the summer fishing on the river, always with a fishing rod.
Only a few years after the artist’s death, his paintings were shown to viewers at an exhibition at the State Russian Museum (1979), and it became clear that Vasnetsov was not only an excellent book graphic artist, but also one of the outstanding Russian painters of the 20th century.

January 3, 2016, 07:09

Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov (1900-1973) - Russian Soviet artist; painter, graphic artist, theater artist, illustrator. Laureate of the USSR State Prize (1971).

Born on March 22 (April 4), 1900 (old style) in the family of a priest in Vyatka (now Kirov region). His father served in the Vyatka Cathedral. A distant relative of the artists A. M. Vasnetsov and V. M. Vasnetsov and the folklorist A. M. Vasnetsov. From his youth, and throughout his life, he was friendly with the artists Evgeny Charushin, who were born in Vyatka and later lived in St. Petersburg.

In 1919 he graduated from the Second Level Unified School (formerly the Vyatka First Men's Gymnasium).

In 1921 he moved to Petrograd. He entered the painting department of Vkhutein, then PGSKHUM, where he studied for five years, with teachers A.E. Karev, A.I. Savinov. Vasnetsov wanted to be a painter, and sought to acquire all the skills necessary to work in painting. From the experience of his teachers, Vasnetsov did not adopt anything that would influence him as a painter - with the exception of the influence of M. V. Matyushin, with whom he did not directly study, but was familiar with him through his artist friends N. I. Kostrov , V. I. Kurdova, O. P. Vaulina. Through them, he gained an understanding of Matyushin’s theory and became acquainted with the “organic” trend in Russian art, which was closest to his natural talent.

In 1926, at VKHUTEIN, the course in which the artist studied was graduated without defending a diploma. In 1926-27 taught art for some time at Leningrad school № 33.

In 1926-1927 together with the artist V.I. Kurdov, he continued his studies in painting at GINKHUK under K.S. Malevich. He was accepted into the Department of Painting Culture, headed by Malevich. He studied the plasticity of cubism, the properties of various pictorial textures, and created “material selections” - “counter-reliefs”. The artist spoke about the time of his work at GINKHUK: “All the time the eye was developing, form, construction. I liked to achieve materiality, texture of objects, color. See the color! Vasnetsov’s work and training with K. S. Malevich at GINKHUK lasted about two years; During this time, the artist studied the meaning of pictorial textures, the role of contrast in the construction of form, and the laws of plastic space.

Paintings made by Vasnetsov during this period: counter-relief “Still Life with a Chessboard”, 1926-1927; “Cubist composition”, 1926-28, “Composition with a trumpet” 1926-1928; "Still life. In Malevich's workshop" 1927-1928; “Composition with a violin” 1929, and others.

In 1928, the art editor of the Detgiz publishing house, V.V. Lebedev, invited Vasnetsov to work on a children's book. The first books illustrated by Vasnetsov were “Karabash” (1929) and “Swamp” by V. V. Bianchi (1930)

Vasnetsov’s design was used repeatedly in mass editions of many books for children - “Confusion” (1934) and “The Stolen Sun” (1958) by K. I. Chukovsky, “Three Bears” by L. N. Tolstoy (1935), “Teremok” (1941) and “Cat's House” (1947) by S. Ya. Marshak, “English folk songs” translated by S. Ya. Marshak (1945), “Cat, Rooster and Fox. Russian fairy tale" (1947) and many others. Illustrated “The Little Humpbacked Horse” by P. P. Ershov, books for children by D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, A. A. Prokofiev and other publications. Vasnetsov's children's books have become classics of Soviet book art.

In the summer of 1931, together with his Vyatka relative, artist N.I. Kostrov, he made a creative trip to the White Sea, to the village of Soroki. Created a series of picturesque and graphic works"Karelia".

In 1932 he became a member of the Leningrad branch of the Union of Soviet Artists.

In 1934 he married the artist Galina Mikhailovna Pinaeva, and in 1937 and 1939 his two daughters, Elizaveta and Natalya, were born.

In 1932, he entered graduate school at the painting department of the All-Russian Academy of Arts, where he studied for three years. In the thirties, Vasnetsov's painting achieved high skill and acquired an original, unique character, not similar to the work of artists close to him. His painting of this time is compared with the works of V. M. Ermolaeva and P. I. Sokolov - in the strength and quality of painting, in the organic element of color: “Vasnetsov preserved and increased the achievements of the original national pictorial culture.”

In 1932-1935. Vasnetsov painted the canvases “Still Life with a Hat and a Bottle”, “Miracle Yudo Fish Whale” and other works. In some of these works - “Lady with a Mouse”, “Church Warden” - an image of merchant-philistine Russia, well known to the artist, appears, comparable to the images of merchant women in A. Ostrovsky and B. Kustodiev. Some researchers (E. D. Kuznetsov, E. F. Kovtun) consider these works to be the peak achievements in the artist’s work

In 1936, he designed costumes and sets for the play based on M. Gorky’s play “The Bourgeois” for the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Leningrad. In 1938-40 worked in the experimental lithographic workshop at the Leningrad Union of Artists. Author greeting cards (1941-1945).

Vasnetsov's pre- and post-war style in book graphics was created under the pressure of ideological circumstances.

“Having survived the persistent pressure of socialist realism, Vasnetsov replaced it with a style associated with Russian folk art, or so it was believed, although there was a lot of market sample in it. Some stylization turned out to be acceptable. Understandable and not related to formalism, it was not perceived conventionally .. Folk, market embroidery. All this, together with a real landscape, gradually freed him from the nickname of a formalist.

In 1941 he was a member of the group of artists and poets “Combat Pencil”. At the end of 1941 he was evacuated to Perm (Molotov). In 1943 he moved from Perm to Zagorsk. He worked as the chief artist of the Toy Research Institute. Created a series of landscapes of Zagorsk. At the end of 1945 he returned to Leningrad.

In 1946 he received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.

In the summer of 1946 he created a number of landscapes of Sosnovo, in 1947-1948. - Melnichny Ruchey, in 1949-1950. Siverskaya, in 1955 - Mereva (near Luga), in 1952 he painted a number of Crimean landscapes, in 1953-54. paints Estonian landscapes. Since 1959, he travels annually to his dacha in Roshchino and writes views of the surrounding area.

From 1961 until the end of his life he lived in house No. 16 on Pesochnaya Embankment in St. Petersburg.

In 1966 he received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.

In 1971, Vasnetsov was awarded the USSR State Prize for two collections of Russian folk tales, songs, riddles “Ladushki” and “Rainbow-arc”. In the same year, the cartoon “Terem-Teremok” was filmed based on his drawings.

Paintings from the 1960s and 70s. - mainly landscapes and still lifes (“Still Life with Willow”, “Blossoming Meadow”, “Roshchino. Cinema “Smena”). Throughout his life, Vasnetsov worked in painting, but due to accusations of formalism, he did not exhibit his works. They were presented at exhibitions only after his death.

Designing a children's book has always been and will be the most serious test for illustrators because of the incorruptible honesty of little critics. And the highest assessment of the artists’ creativity becomes the recognition of their illustrations, which the memory will keep from childhood, when emotions and first impressions had not yet been erased life experience. April 4 marks the birthday of the artist who made the meeting with the book unforgettable for the child - Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov. Read about the work of the “fairy-tale” artist in our article.

The first day of April sets a major tone for the whole month—April Fool's Day. On April 2, the world celebrates International Children's Book Day - a holiday without an age limit (after all, “we all come from childhood”), with the obligatory smile, warmth in the chest and a heap of childhood memories. And April 4 marks the birthday of the artist, who made the meeting with the book unforgettable for the child— Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov(1900-1973). Creator magical world fairy-tale images, so close and understandable to a child (after all, his drawings of animals and birds are so similar to toys), the artist was recognized as a classic in the field of children's books during his lifetime. Yuri Alekseevich, whose favorite reading until old age was fairy tales, defined the main task of his work as follows: “In my drawings I try to show a corner of the beautiful world of my native Russian fairy tale, which instills in children a deep love for the people, for our Motherland and its generous nature.”

Yu. A. Vasnetsov

"Fairytale" artist Yuri Alekseevich Vasnetsov born on April 4, 1900 in Vyatka in the family of a priest, where his grandfather and brothers were also of the clergy. Family Yuri Alekseevich was distantly related to the famous Russian painters Victor and Apollinarius Vasnetsov, and another relative, folklorist Alexander Vasnetsov, collected more than 350 folk songs of northern Russia. This fact says a lot - both about the atmosphere in the family and about its “genetic” talent.

Illustration for the fairy tale by P.P. Ershov “The Little Humpbacked Horse” Yu. Vasnetsov

The Vyatka province earned its fame, first of all, for its handicrafts: toy, lace, furniture and chest making. Maria Nikolaevna, the artist’s mother, was a famous embroiderer and lacemaker in Vyatka. Such a cultural family heritage, a folk, as the artist himself said, “bazaar” cultural environment became fertile ground for the development of his talent. And the talent was truly multifaceted (vector of activity Jura was defined by the word “interesting!”): the boy sewed boots, bound books, painted the walls of his room, the shutters and stoves of his neighbors with intricate patterns and fantastic animals characteristic of folk art. Already at that time, his source of inspiration was folk art and folklore traditions. Later, the honored artist admitted:

“I still live what I saw and remembered as a child.”

Illustration for the fairy tale “The Three Bears” Yu. Vasnetsov

To the delight of many generations of children, the love of drawing took over: young Yuri Vasnetsov decided to become a professional artist. Logic suggested what to do next: in 1921. Yuri Alekseevich came to Petrograd and entered the painting department of the State Art Museum, which he successfully graduated in 1926. This was a time when society generated new revolutionary ideas, and Petrograd became an incubator of revolutionary artistic ideas. Among the Petrograd teachers of the young Vasnetsova were: the Russian “Cezanist” Osip Braz, the Russian “impressionist” A. Karev, Alexander Savinov, the leaders of the Russian avant-garde—Mikhail Matyushin and the Suprematist Kazimir Malevich. The question of what has been achieved Yu. Vasnetsov in painting, remained open for a long time. The individual characteristics of the master’s pictorial language (the artist sought to revive the traditions of Russian primitivism) in his “formalistic” works of the 1920s testify to his extraordinary talent as a painter.

"Lady with a Mouse" Yu. Vasnetsov

The campaign against formalism that began then, Yuri Alekseevich quite rightly perceived it as a warning (ideological persecution had already affected his book graphics) and transferred painting to the category of a hobby, which he trusted only to his family and close artist friends. His works (mainly landscapes and still lifes) were practically unknown to anyone and only after the artist’s death received worthy recognition in the world. personal exhibition at the State Russian Museum in 1979

Book graphics have become a worthy alternative to painting. The young artist began to successfully collaborate with the department of children's and youth literature of the State Publishing House under the leadership of V.V. Lebedev. Yuri Alekseevich’s success was in his personal qualities, in his rich imagination, a direct consequence of which was a creative interpretation of the theme of images of Russian folklore—fairy tales. Already in the 1930s, Yu. Vasnetsov became a famous and recognizable illustrator of children's fairy tales by V. Bianki (“Swamp”), P. Ershov (“The Little Humpbacked Horse”), K. Chukovsky (“Confusion,” “Fifty Little Pigs”), L.N. Tolstoy (“Three Bears”) and the author of funny lithographic prints for children on the same fairy-tale themes. A trip to the North in 1931 confirmed the correctness of the chosen path. An appeal to folk origins, the successful combination of refined painting with the traditions of folk art gave rise to the phenomenon of “fairytale” painting by Yu. Vasnetsov, when illustrations acquire paramount importance, subordinating the text.

Illustrations Yu. Vasnetsova

In illustrations Yu. Vasnetsova color plays the main role, and this is a find that still has no equal. Color becomes the first alphabet—“color”—which the child easily and joyfully masters: wolf—gray, fox—red, goose—white. And to create the emotional mood of the drawings and enhance the perception of images, the artist uses background color. This artistic device When color becomes the medium of the action taking place, it is called the “magic lantern principle”. Constantly focusing on his “Vyatka” world, the artist gave his fairy-tale characters special expressiveness, dressing them in the costumes of his northern region: the kind Mama Goat and Mama Cat in elegant colored skirts with lace, the offended Bunny “warmed up” with a warm jacket. And, helping the kids to place the accents correctly, he left the evil wolf, fox and bear without clothes.

Illustration for the fairy tale “Three Bears” by Yu. Vasnetsov

Book graphics, although his most beloved, constituted only one facet of his work. During the war years, first in Molotov, and then in Zagorsk, Yu.A.Vasnetsov was the chief artist of the Institute of Toys, taught at a Leningrad school fine arts, created costumes and scenery for performances based on A. Gorky’s plays for Leningrad theaters. In 1971, the animated film “Terem-Teremok” was created based on drawings Yu. A. Vasnetsova. The artist’s work was highly appreciated, he was awarded the titles: Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1946), People's Artist RSFSR (1966) and laureate of the USSR State Prize (1971).

But the artist’s highest reward remains the grateful memory of his descendants.