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Ivan Bilibin was a Russian illustrator as well as a stage designer. He is most well known for his popular illustrations of mostly Russian folk tales and some Slavic folklore. Bilibin’s linework is bold and defined and easily makes the work recognizable as his own.
While the stories he depicts are glorious, the colors of his pieces are muted, as if the light has been filtered through the canopies of trees. Bilibin’s distinct art style, inspired partially by Art Nouveau, can be seen in books or on posters.
Initiation of Russian Illustrator Ivan Bilibin’s Art
Ivan Bilibin was born on 16 August 1876 not far from St. Petersburg. Even as a child, he was constantly drawing though. At nineteen he was enrolled in the School of the Society for the Advancement of the Arts. In the summer he worked at a private art studio. Upon coming home, he was frustrated at the loss of the art studio but luckily found another studio set up in St. Petersburg that worked for him, this one maintained by Ilya Repin. Bilibin looked up to Repin as both an artist and a teacher.
In 1899 after Bilibin initially released illustrations for Russian fairy tales, he was met with some success. His career as an illustrator of both books and magazines began with a humble commission for a magazine Mir Iskusstva, named after an artists’ association of the same name. Bilibin graduated in May 1901 and went to Munich sometime after, to finish his training with the painter Anton Ažbe.
Between 1902 and 1904 Ivan Bilibin worked for the Russian Museum and traveled performing ethnographic research and studying Russian wooden architecture. In 1903 the artist became a founding member of the Union of Russian Artists. Bilibin drew revolutionary cartoons while the Russian Revolution of 1905 was going on. In 1906 the magazine he drew for, Zhupel, was banned because of his infamous illustration that showed the emperor portrayed as a donkey.
Bilbin’s Egyptian Landscapes and Alexandria
Bilibin also spent some time in Egypt, in 1920 while taking refuge from the Russian Civil War, Bilibin was in Alexandria, before settling in Cairo. In Cairo, he painted Egyptian landscapes, adding to his repertoire of landscape knowledge. There, he studied Egyptian, Arab, and Coptic art, giving him a background in many different types of art by now. He was very taken in by mosques and their ornamentation. Bilibin went on a brief visit to Syria and Palestine in 1924 to paint landscapes, before settling back in Alexandria again.
The Final Years of Ivan Bilibin
In 1925 Bilibin moved to Paris, and there he decorated houses that were privately owned as well as Orthodox churches. In 1936 though, Bilibin and his family came back to the Soviet Union. Immediately upon moving there, Bilbin was given the role of professor of graphic art at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. Bilibin eventually passed during the Siege of Leningrad, ultimately starving in the city when he opted to stay.
The Influence of Japanese Art and on Bilibin’s Paintings
Ivan Bilibin has identified his artistic roots in Renaissance woodcuts. There’s also some reference to Japanese paintings. As well as the fact that Bilibin’s references to old Russia, or medieval Russia are clear to see. It’s possible to see references to all of these in his work. The muted colors of Japanese artwork alongside the fine lines are present. There are Russian folk themes present throughout the works as well. If you look at just any one of his pieces, say Koschei the Deathless, a watercolor painting, you’ll see the aspects of each. The plants in the foreground are blocky and drawn distinctly. The man’s fingernails are clawed around the mane of the horse as it is caught in action. In the background, the clouds also look like horse riders. The border of the piece is colorful shapes, most likely folk motifs, they would look at home on a dress or some other Russian garment. It’s the attention to detail that Bilibin pays that’s really so eye-catching about each of his pieces.
The illustration for the Fairytale of the White Duck is a piece with childish simplicity and joy, but the muted colors affect it strangely. The dark black of the water overtakes everything, leaving just the bright reflections in the water alongside the white speck of the duck. The borders are curling flowers and shape motifs once more. There are plants in the foreground as well, stopping just at the mark of the border and framing the piece nicely. The forest in the background is a series of blobs, but that’s what lends to some of the childish innocence in the piece. Overall, the piece is blacks and browns and greens, with the sparsest of bright colors reserved for the children in the midground of the piece.
The Art Nouveau inspiration that Bilibin took is evident to see. Art Nouveau is decorative and inspired by natural forms, such as the sinuous forms of plants and flowers. Bilibin takes a lot from this in the forms of his borders, which are often populated with curling shapes such as these.
Ultimately Bilibin’s art is that of the ages. It captures stories of fantastic proportions, managing to pin down ethereal moments masterfully. The details and craft shown in each painting are stunning, and it’s no wonder that Bilibin’s work will be cherished for years to come.