Ivan Bilibin

[alias_sqbr]

Are people familiar with the Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin? I grew up with translations of his books as a kid and adored them, and it's only recently it struck me that those whose mothers are not arty types of somewhat Eastern European extraction may be unfamiliar with him. So: look at his art! Isn't it the prettiest thing you have ever seen?

(Answers of "no" will not be accepted :P)

I was inspired to look him up after getting an idea for a fairy tale influenced piece, but now I feel a little intimidated by the awesome. Alas the books I had as a kid with their cool russian covers don't seem to be for sale any more, but I'm definitely going to try and find some way to buy a book of his pictures, because they are much richer in person. I can't remember if the text that came with them was any good, since we had a couple of versions of those folk tales.

(EDIT: here's some of the stories, ah such a nostalgia trip)

Comments

[aris_tgd]

... Holy crap, YES. I had a Time-Life series of fairy tale books when I was a kid--okay, I had two of them, but one of them was Russian fairy tales, and he did the illustrations! I loved those! And the stories that came with!

Oh, good, now that I know the illustrator maybe I can find another copy. Mine is pretty beat up.

[alias_sqbr]

I had trouble finding anything that seemed to be a reprint of the same stories and art, but I didn't look very hard.

[delicious_irony]

I've loved his stuff ever since I was a child and had a fairytale book full of his illustrations. When I got older and rediscovered him via a Russian Art exhibition at the Art Gallery, I added him to my LJ/DW interests and started researching.

His artwork is amazing..

[alias_sqbr]

Yes, yes it is.

[aquaeri]

Back in the 90s, I picked up a book about him in a second-hand bokshop and the preetty peectures wanted me to take them home with me. I don't think I've bothered reading the text yet.

Geeky book details

[aquaeri]

I think the book might be quite hard to find. Wow, I have a pretty rarity I paid $20 for!

It's called "Ivan BILIBIN" and the only other text on the cover is "Pan Books". The cover is mainly the Bilibin picture "Volga and his troops" (plate 18). The book is a bit larger than A4, particularly it's wider. It's paperback, but a pretty solid sort of cardboard was used. My copy is somewhat smudgly dirty on the outside, particularly around the spine. The interior pages are in good nick, although it has lots of musty old book smell.

On the rights page, it says:

Text by
SERGEI GOLYNETS

Designed by
IRINA PTAKHOVA

Translated from the Russian by
GLENYS ANN KOZLOV

© Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad, 1981

All rights reserved. No part of the contents
of this book may be reproduced without
the written permission of the publishers

Published in Great Britain 1981 by
Pan Books Limited
Cavaye Place, London, SW10 9 PG

ISBN 0 330 26631 4

Produced by Aurora Art Publishers

Printed and bound in Finland

p5 - 22 is text (in a rather large font)
p23 says PLATES (squee!)
There are no page numbers on the next 150 or so pages, just pictures - roughly half in colour, the rest B&W (of illustrations he made that were B&W)
p179 says BILIBIN'S LIFE AND WORK
p180 has the same portrait as Wikipedia, but in B&W
p181 - 208 has a chronology/biography with quotes and photos
p209 says EXHIBITIONS CATALOGUE BIBLIOGRAPH INDEX GLOSSARY
p210 - 227 has lists of those things
The last page has a few lines at the bottom in cyrillic, the first being (obviously) Ivan Bilibin, the next line I have no clue, the third line I guess is "Aurora Art Publishers 1981". Then "No 2675" (was this a limited printing, or the book's number in their catalogue?) and "Printed and bound in Finland" in English.
The back cover is mainly Bilibin picture (part of plate 155, a stage set) but has a blurb (in a smaller font than most of the inside of the book!)

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942) was a popular Russian graphic artist and stage designer. He created a special "Bilibin" style in book illustration; a style which is firmly rooted in the stylized forms of Russian fold and medieval art, such as lubok (cheap popular print), embroidery, woodcuts, and illuminated manuscripts. Bilibin's use of the precise line associates him with hte graphic work of Art Nouveau. Bilibin was best-known for his illustrations to fairy-tales and bylinas (old Russian epic poems), in which he managed to recreate the magical and colourful world of Russian folklore, and for his illustrations to the works of Pushkin and Lermontov. Bilibin also did a good deal of work for the theatre. He designed sets and costumes for the operas The Tale of Tsar Saltan, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, Prince Igor, and Boris Godunov, which were staged in the leading theatres of Petersburg, Moscow, Paris and Prague.
This edition covers all aspects of Bilibin's work - book illustration, easel drawing, and stage design.
The book contains 98 colour plates and 97 black-and-white reproductions.
ISBN 0 330 26631 4

If you're ever in Brisbane, you're welcome to look at it but I'm not sure I'm willing to let it out of my sight now :-).

Re: Geeky book details

[sqbr]

I am unlikely to be in Brisbane any time soon so shall just sit here in Perth and be jealous :)