Ivan Bilibin

(1876 - 1942)

1269

Aleksandr Pushkin

Сказка о золотом петушке

The tale of the golden cockerel

Sankt-Peterburg: Ekspeditsia Zagotovleniia Gosudarstvennikh Bumag, 1910.

256 x 326 mm. 12 pages.

Edition: 10,000.

Bilibin, son of a naval doctor, was urged by his father to study law in St. Petersburg. But he was drawn towards the arts and in 1899, while still studying under Repin, he became fascinated by Old Russian folk art and icons. He travelled through Russia’s provinces and studied the works of local craftsmen. He acquired a remarkable collection of artefacts that eventually would form the basis of the ethnographic section of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In 1899 the Imperial Stationery Office commissioned the 23-year old Bilibin for the production of a set of fairy tale picture books. Six were published between 1901 and 1903 and three more between 1905 and 1910. The style that Bilibin developed for these fairy tales was to become his distinct signature. In this, his last, fairy tale book the illustrations rank amongst the most representative examples of Bilibin’s style. Bilibin’s intention and ability to work for printing is clearly shown. His clear-cut outlines could accurately be transferred to printing plates and his use of colour in almost monochrome areas was perfectly suited for reproduction. Using ancient ornamentation Bilibin achieves harmony and proportionality in these illustrations.

References:

Benois 1916, p. 191

Sidorov 1946, p. 355

Golynets 1970

Cologne, 1988, no. 2797

Fekula 1988, no. 5128

Zürich 1989, p. 30

Anikst 1990, pp. 17-18

Kassel 1990, p. 107

München 1993, p.48

Bode 1997, p. 38

Moscow 1997, no. 19