Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin

Watercolor and ink on paper laid down on board. The sheet is slightly yellowed and a little dirty, though the image area appears in overall fine state. There is a small loss to the sheet at upper left and the top and the bottom of the sheet (above and below the image) are stained with yellowed glue. There are also some scratches, stains and discolorations to the sheet around the image. Held in a modern wood frame with mat and under glass. Unexamined out of frame.
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This work is accompanied by the book Le Tapis Volant (France, 1935) in which it is illustrated.

After Bilibin moved to Paris with his family in 1925, he largely supported himself by designing for the stage. He also produced book illustrations for French publishers, including several juvenile titles edited by Père Castor for Flammarion. In 1934, Bilibin illustrated the Arabian story Le Tapis Volant (The Magic Carpet) for a series of fairy tales published by Flammarion in Paris, but the book was not published until the following year.

Bilibin's illustrations for children's books exemplify the Russian Style Moderne in their combination of elements of Old Russian art with the stylistics of Japanese woodblock prints. His illustrations for The Magic Carpet were influenced by the time he spent in the Middle East (1922-25) before settling in France.

The dramatic, almost theatrical compositions of Bilibin's books such as The Magic Carpet are filled with intricate details and surrounded by ornate borders. In his children's book illustrations, Bilibin created all the decorative elements for book design, including a special typeface, initials, and ornamental vignettes. The manner in which Bilibin executed his drawings is reminiscent of the work of an engraver. After making a sketch on paper, he would render a more precise outline of the composition on tracing paper, which he would then transfer  to Whatman paper; then, using a sable brush with the end cut off like a chisel, he would go over the pencil-drawn outlines. Bilibin's clearly rendered outlines could be accurately transferred from the zinc printing plates to the paper, and his use of color in almost monochrome areas was perfectly suited for reproduction. Bilibin developed a style that had a great impact upon the development of children's book illustration and set a standard for his peers.