Bilibin & The Golden Age Of Russian Picture Books is a gorgeous collection of Russian fairytale, fantasy and folklore illustrations, with focus on the work of Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin ( 1876-1942 ), who gained renown around the turn of the 19th century with his illustrations of Russian fairy tales.
I especially adore the usage of flat, monotone colors and the bold line work, which gives the illustrations a stylized look. The work of Moebius comes to mind, as do Alphonse Mucha. Bilibin himself was very influenced by Slavic folklore, a frequent subject matter of Mucha.
(above left) Koschei The Deathless, a character from Slavic folklore. Readers of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy will no doubt be familiar with this character, and Mignola have often mentioned the influence of Russian fairy tales on his work. Vasilisa The Beautiful and Baba Yaga are 2 more characters illustrated by Bilibin that have made appearances in Hellboy.
(above left) The illustration of rolling waves bear unmistakable resemblance to Hokusai’s work, a homage to Japanese printmaking art and Ukiyo-e.
A quaint collection of beautiful Russian fairy tale illustrations that can be thoroughly enjoyed even if you don’t understand the accompanying Japanese text. Highly recommended.
Bilibin – The Golden Age Of Russian Picture Books ビリービンとロシア絵本の黄金時代 details :
– Dimensions – 18.2 x 1.5 x 25.6 cm
– Softcover, 136 pages pages
– Full color, in Japanese
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November 25th, 2014 at 9:40 am
The art looks beautiful. Russian folk themes are very charming. What a surprise to have a japanese recopilation of this illustrations.
November 26th, 2014 at 12:16 am
Kenouki – Western art is very appreciated in Japan, so you can actually find lots of art books like these in many of the bookstores in Tokyo. :]
November 29th, 2014 at 2:34 pm
I actually own about four of Bilibin’s illustrated books….well they’re french editions. Very big fan of his work. Does this book include all of his work ? And are there a lot of pages with just text? I might need to get this if it’s very picture heavy.
November 29th, 2014 at 11:00 pm
vegastar – The book is mostly images, with accompanying text on some pages. I’m afraid I don’t know Bilibin’s body of work well enough to say if it contains all his works, but it is a sizable collection. Hope that helps a little !
December 7th, 2014 at 10:37 am
If you don’t mind, would you do an book review on a Harry Clark book? I am interested in many artists of the Golden Age of Illustration 🙂
December 7th, 2014 at 12:45 pm
Leah – I’ve seen a Japanese version of his art book before I think. I’ll keep it in view ! :]