Biography
Everyone knows the illustrations of Alexander Pushkin's fairy tales - about Tsar Saltan, a golden cockerel, fisherman and fish, Ivan Tsarevich, a fire-bird and a gray wolf. These unique works of art created the artist-designer Ivan Bilibin - a student of Ilya Repin, the author of a double-headed eagle.Childhood and youth
Ilya Yakovlevich Bilibin was born in 4 (16) August 1876 in the village of Tarkovka (now - part of Sestroretsk), near St. Petersburg, as a notable and educated family. The first mentions of the birth of bilibins are dated by the period of the Board of Ivan the Terrible.
Father Yakov Ivanovich served as a military doctor: he began with the younger ship's doctor, then he rose to the main guardian of the maritime hospital in the Latvian town of Libava. He took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Mother Varvara Alexandrovna is also connected with the sea - she was a subsidiary of a military engineer. He loved music, perfectly owned the game on the piano, while studying at the famous composer Anton Grigorievich Rubinstein.
Parents gave Ivan a decent education. In 1888, the boy entered the first St. Petersburg gymnasium, which he graduated from a silver medal.
Young Bilibin has drawn from an early age, his work was distinguished by the abilities of the paints and the realism of the plots. But he did not consider the work of creativity the main. Only in 1895, during training at the University of St. Petersburg in the direction of jurisprudence, he entered the art school with the imperial society of the promotion of artists and seriously thought about the illustrator career.
In the student years, Ivan Yakovlevich Dragged Knowledge of Anton Ashbe in Munich, at the famous Ilya Repin - first in the master of Princess Maria Tenishevskaya, and after receiving a lawyer's diploma, from 1900 to 1904, in the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Perhaps it was the Repin that put a special imprint on the biography of Bilibin: admiring the talent of Ilya Efimovich, trying to hit him, the young artist at 10 o'clock did not go out of the table, improved the sketches and paintings, for which he received a nickname.
In 1898, Ivan Bilibin entered the Unification of the World of Art, which at first helped him organize exhibitions.
Painting
According to the memories of the contemporary of Gregory Klimov, the architect and a close friend of Ivan Yakovlevich, the decisive stage in the life of the Bilibina-artist was the visit in the summer of 1899 by the Tver Province. Klimov wrote:
"Made sketches and sketches of the surrounding Russian landscape - huge paws of old firings, red mugs on Emerald MSh, quiet forest streams and rivers, intricate wooden carving on peasant sings in the village of Egypt, involuntarily led him to the thought of illustrating Russian fairy tales."Put a print and picture of Viktor Vasnetsov "Bogatyry". Without leaving the Tver province, Ivan Bilibin created a debut book illustration to the "fairy tale about Ivan Tsarevich, a fire-bird and a gray wolf."
Even at the beginning of creativity, the artist worked in a unique Bilibino technique: first painted the contour, and then filled it with watercolor, not sharing. To do this, he used a column brush with an oblique tip. In this case, the painter believed that conscientious graphics sufficiently draw no more than five square centimeters per day.
Created to three fairy tales of drawings - "On Ivan Tsarevich ...", "Tsarevna-Frog" and "Vasilisa beautiful" - a beginner illustrator brought to the expedition of the preparation of state papers. They produced a real furyor, and Bilibina offered to buy the rights to the publication. So the Bilibinsky style became widely known.
In the following years, the illustrator was making a fairy tale "Vasilisa lovely", creating a portrait of Baba Yaga, who to this day decorates the page of textbooks on literature, "revived" the fairy tales "Mary Morrevna", "Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka", "Tale about Tsar Saltan ", Sadko's poem.
Inspired by the picture of Vasnetsov "Bogatyri", Bilibin wrote his Ilya Muromets, Alyosh Popovich and Dobryna Nikitich, adding their union by the image of the Snake Gorynych. He also tried himself as a designer of festive cards (for the Day of Angel and Christmas) and PR, drawing advertising beer "New Bavaria".
During the revolution of 1905, the temporary government appealed to Ivan Yakovlevich with a request to create the coat of arms. A famous double-headed eagle appeared from the Master's feather, which was the official symbol of Russia in 1917-1918. And although the image satisfied officials, in the people of Eagle they called the "bold chicken", because in the paws in the bird did not have a scepter nor Power.
In 1907, Bilibin returned to the Imperial Society for the promotion of artists, this time as a teacher. For 10 years he taught the art of graphics. Among His pupils were Georgy Narbut, Konstantin Eliseev, Nikolai Kuzmin and his future spouse Rene O'Connell.
In 1908-1911, Ivan Yakovlevich created sketches of costumes and scenery for the opera Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "Golden Cockerel", designed decorations to the "Miracle of St. Theofila" and "Honor and Revenge" Fyodor Sologuba, painted costumes for drama Lope de Vegi "Fuente Oven "
In 1917, complex times began for Russia. Running from a broken crowd, Bilibin traveled in Africa and the Middle East: lived in Egypt, then in Cairo, Syria and Palestine. In August 1925 he moved to Paris and immediately returned to the designer. Bilibin created scenery for ballet Igor Stravinsky "Fire-Bird", painted paintings for the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and "Thousand and One Night."
From time to time Ivan Yakovlevich drew "for the soul": landscapes ("Egypt. Pyramids", "Cairo street", "Olive trees", "South of France. Dune"), portraits (Lyudmila Chirikova), mythical paintings ("Bird Alconost "And" Paradise bird Sirin ").
In 1936, the soul of the artist wished to return home. Settling in Leningrad, he worked, until he came. Bilibin abandoned evacuation and remained in the city deposited by the Germans. The last work was a sketch of illustrations for the episodes "Duk Stepanovich" in 1941.
Personal life
Ivan Bilibin was married three times. Each of his spouse was a creative person, with every artist met in the imperial society to promote artists.
The first wife became an Englishwoman with Irish roots Maria Chembers. In 1902, the couple was combined with a marriage, and a year later, the first son Alexander appeared. In 1908, Ivan was born. The Chember Bilibin family existed for almost ten years, and in 1911 Maria, unable to endure the drunkenness of her husband, filed for a divorce. In 1914, she went to England, taking children with him.
The second time Ivan Yakovlevich was also married in the Englishman Rene O'Connell. Their marriage lasted five years, from 1912 to 1917. Children did not have.
The third and last wife of Bilibina became Alexander Shchchatikhin, who had the son of Mstislav from the first marriage. Their personal life was rich in travel: Egypt, Palestine, Cairo, France, they visited all together, together returned to Leningrad. In 1942, Alexandra Ovdovel. She survived her husband for 25 years, and not married for the third time.
Ivan Bilibin was a massone, entered the Russian bed "Northern Star" in Paris. Later, he created his society "Free Russia" and in 1932 she was her terrible chamber.
Death
Returning to Leningrad in 1936, Bilibin, along with his wife and her son, settled in the house number 25 on the street. Gularic (now - ul. Liza Chaykina). On the house there are two memorial boards (judging by the photo, hang around, although they contradict each other). One:
"Here from 1937 to 1942, the artist of the theater and books Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin lived and worked.Other:
"In this house, the great Russian artists of Bilibin Ivan Yakovlevich lived in this house (1876-1942) and Shchchatikhina-Pototskaya Alexander Vasilyevna (1892-1967)."
When, because of the fascist bombing, the apartment turned out to be unsuitable for living, Ivan Bilibin moved to the basement of the Imperial Society for the promotion of artists, which was the second home to him. On February 7, 1942, he was taken to the hospital under the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he soon died of frostbite and hunger.
The illustrator found the last peace in the fraternal grave of professors of the Academy of Arts near the Smolensk cemetery.
Work
Illustrations for fairy tales:
- 1899-1901 - "Tsarevna-Frog"
- 1899 - "Tale of Ivan Tsarevich, Fire-Bird and Gray Wolf"
- 1899-1900 - "Vasilisa lovely"
- 1901 - "Sister Alyonushka and Brantz Ivanushka"
- 1902 - "White Duck"
- 1905 - "Tale of Tsar Saltan"
- 1906 - "Tale of the Golden Cockerel"
Sketches of costumes and scenery for performances:
- 1908 - "Action on Teofil"
- 1908 - "Fishing about fisherman and fish"
- 1908-1909 - Golden Cockerel
- 1908 - "Honor and Revenge"
- 1914 - Sadko
- 1930 - "Boris Godunov"
- 1937 - "Tale of Tsar Saltan"