Vladimir Lebedev is an outstanding painter, master of book illustration. For many years he was engaged in the artistic design of the works of Samuil Marshak. In addition, the painter created a number of cartoons on political topics, several portraits and still lifes. The topic of today's article is the creative path of the artist Vladimir Vasilyevich Lebedev.
Early years
The future painter was born in 1891, in St. Petersburg. Artistic abilities manifested themselves quite early. Education Lebedev began with training in the studio of A. Titov. Then he graduated from art school. The main feature of Lebedev was the desire to learn new things. He never stopped learning, even when he started teaching.
As a political cartoonist, Lebedev did not work long (1917-1918), but his work is remembered. Perhaps it was the collection of drawings "Revolution Panel" that played a bad role in his fate.
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In 1922, Vladimir Lebedev created a series of drawings dedicated to events relevant to his contemporaries. The artist first called the collection of twenty-three graphic images "Street of the Revolution". Then the first word in this name was replaced by a more accurate one - "panel".
In the early twenties, many suspicious and unreliable personalities scurried through the streets of St. Petersburg. The crime rate has risen. This situation was created by economic instability in the country. Typical representatives of his time were portrayed by the artist Vladimir Lebedev.
The drawings are satirical and grotesque. "Panel of Revolution" is an example of how an artist, freeing himself from everything superfluous, transfers socio-psychological types of people to paper.
Still life and portraits
After completing cooperation with the popular magazine "Satyricon", the artist worked for several years on posters for the telegraph agency. However, today Vladimir Lebedev is remembered primarily as an illustrator of children's books. He began this activity in the publishing house "Rainbow". But Lebedev's portraits and still lifes deserve no less attention.
Lebedev's work in the twenties was determined by friendship with such artists as I. Puni, N. Lapshina, N. Tyrsa. Communication with colleagues created the environment necessary for each master. Vladimir Lebedev was fascinated by the work of the French artists Renoir and Manet. In the early thirties, he created a series of works,among them: "Fruits in a Basket", "Red Guitar and Palette". Around this time, Lebedev also acted as a portrait painter (“Portrait of the Artist N. S. Nadezhdina”, “Model with a Mandolin”, “Girl with a Jug”, “Red Navy”, “Turkish Wrestlers”).
Private life and family
Vladimir Lebedev met his first wife while studying at the Bernstein school. Her name was Sarah Lebedeva (Darmolatova). This is an outstanding Russian and Soviet artist, also known as a master of sculptural portraiture. After the divorce, Lebedev maintained friendly, warm relations with her for many years.
The second wife of the artist was the famous ballerina and choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina. Lebedev painted several of her portraits. The third time the painter married in 1940, the writer Ada Lazo.
In tandem with Marshak
The name of this writer's childhood is known to all. However, not everyone knows that Samuil Marshak was engaged not only in literary creativity, but also made a huge contribution to the development of the publishing business. And, perhaps, much of what Marshak conceived in the early twenties, he would not have been able to implement if not for cooperation with such a talented and hardworking graphic artist as Vladimir Lebedev. He became the artist of a new children's book. What are the features of Lebedev's style?
A distinctive feature of this artist's work is the poster style. Lebedev's illustrations are laconic. The background is rarely colored, and the figures of people and animals are depicted schematically. "Hingedpuppets" - this is how one of the critics of Lebedev's figure called it. But at the same time, the "puppets" of the master of illustration turned out to be lively, bright, memorable.
Lebedev created drawings for a large number of books, but more often he worked with Marshak. They found a common language, because both were extremely demanding in their activities, they worked tirelessly. Marshak, as if picking up Lebedev's style, wrote dynamically, creating clear verbal pictures.
Many young and talented artists took lessons in book graphics from him. Lebedev is the creator of his own school. He managed to gather around him masters of a completely different direction. Vladimir Lebedev devoted more than half a century to book illustration.
Recent years
In the mid-thirties, an event occurred, after which, according to critics, there was a decline in the creative development of the artist. A number of angry articles against the painter appeared in the newspapers. This was a heavy blow for Vladimir Lebedev.
He has lived in Moscow since 1941. And in the early fifties he returned to Leningrad. He still worked in book graphics, but he lived rather closed, communicating with only a few friends and colleagues. Vladimir Lebedev passed away in 1967 and was buried in St. Petersburg.
