Stipa Nikolay Andreyevich (1887-1942)

Son of an officer of the Kuban Cossack Army, NA Tyrsa studied intermittently at the architectural department of Fine Arts (1905-09) and at the Art School of E. Zvantseva (1907-10).

He first drew the attention of critics in 1914, will present the brilliant drawings with images of nude nudes. His creative interests were very diverse, and in each of the areas he showed himself to be a highly professional and original.

In his youth Tyrsa devoted several years of study of ancient art - copying frescoes and participating in their restoration, then engaged in decorative painting Petersburg mansions.

In the 1920s. the artist's attention was focused on the graph. In the easel chart - numerous drawings and watercolors from nature - he honed his skills. Graphics Industry for him was primarily a means of income, but also on her, he worked with enthusiasm.
Tyrsa in the schedule book came back in 1921, issued the "Comedy of King Maximilian," and illustrations for "Goat" (1923) marked the beginning of the work a children's book, where he soon became one of the greatest masters. Focusing on students and readers preferring contemporary themes or immediate past, he designed dozens of books, among which are the "siege of the palace" VA Kaverina, "Republic SHKID" Mr. G. White and L. Panteleeva, "The Snow Book" in . V. Bianchi, "War Horses" NS Tikhonov, "Childhood" by M. Gorky most of all, he turned to books BS B.ZHitkova its permanent and beloved author. In the exciting, dynamic graphics Stipa realistic precision was connected with a romantic feel.

In the 1920s. He began teaching drawing and watercolor in different institutions, nurtured many fine artists. Since the mid-1920s. Stipa paid more attention to watercolors, as if preparing himself for the transition of oil painting in the 1930s.

His paintings - landscapes, still lifes, interiors, images of nude models - grew out of field studies and, unlike the illustrations were of a contemplative nature, but they are charged enthusiasm of wealth and beauty of the world and carry away temperamental incarnation of the world on canvas.

In those same years, for it has acquired independent interest lithography, which he had previously used only in the illustrations. The idea of ​​the spread of highly massive pictures fascinated and inspired him to create a great multi-color prints (including the famous "bouquet", 1939), and the restlessness of the mind pushed to the invention of a completely new technology "washout ink on the stone," an all-time expanded the possibilities of lithography. In the children's book Tyrsa now working less, but turned to books for adults and performed the beautiful illustrations to the "Queen of Spades" by A. Pushkin (1936), "Anna Karenina" Leo Tolstoy (1939) and "Hero of Our Time" Mikhail Lermontov (1940). In 1940-41. he took more and glassmakers and by working together with Vera Mukhina Leningrad in the experimental shop mirror factory, designed about two dozen products - decanters, glasses, vases, remarkable for its terseness and nobility of the original form and subtle sense of the nature of glass, it can be considered one founder of the Leningrad school of art glass. Major solo exhibition of Stipa opened June 15, 1941, but lasted only a week - the war began. January 29, 1942 it prostrate winter blockade, were evacuated from Leningrad, but it was too late.