Yuri Vasnetsov (1900-1973)

Born into a family of Vyatkian priest, Yu Vasnetsov was a distant relative of Victor and Apollinaria Vasnetsov .

 Obsessed with the desire to become an artist, in 1921 he arrived in Petrograd and joined the Faculty of Painting GSHM (later Vhutemas) successfully completed his studies in 1926 in search of work the young artist began working with the Department of Children and Young People's Literature Publishing House of the State where, under the artistic the direction of VV Lebedev happily found himself in the interpretation of themes and images of Russian folklore - tales in which best suits his natural bent for humor, grotesque and kind of irony.

In the 1930-ies. brought him fame illustrations for books, "Swamp", "The Little Humpbacked Horse" by P. II. Kriizha, "Fifty pigs" KI Chukovskogo, "Three Bears" L. Tolstoy. Then he took great - elegant and fascinating - lithographic prints for children, based on the same plot motifs.

During the war years, first held in Molotov (Perm), then in Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad), where he was the chief artist of the Institute of toys, Vasnetsov fulfilled poetic illustrations of the "English Folk Songs" Marshak (1943) and then to his own book "The Cat House" (1947). New success brought him to illustrate folklore collections "Chudodeynoe Ring" (1947) and "Fables in Faces" (1948). Vasnetsov worked extraordinarily intense, many times varying themes dear to him, and images. Original result of his many years of work became widely known collections of "Ladushki" (1964) and "Rainbow Arc" (1969).
's colorful, entertaining and witty illustrations Vasnetsov Russian folklore found perhaps the most organic incarnation, they grew more than one generation of young readers, and he was already in his lifetime was recognized as a classic in the field of children's books.

Meanwhile, book illustrations was only one aspect of his work. The main goal in life has always been Vasnetsov painting classes, and to this end he came with fanatical tenacity: he worked alone, he studied under the guidance of Malevich in Ginhuke, trained and graduate school at the All-Russian Academy of Arts.
in 1932 - 34 years. Finally, he created several works ("The Lady with the mouse," "Still Life with a hat and a bottle", etc.), which proved to be a very great master, has successfully combined the sophisticated artistic culture of his time with the national tradition "bazaar" of art, which he valued and loved.

 But this latest finding oneself coincided with the start of the campaign while fighting with the formalism. Fearing ideological persecution (already had time to touch his book illustrations), Vasnetsov painting done by secret occupation and showed her only close people. In his landscapes and still lifes, highlighted by their down-motivated and extremely sophisticated in the beautiful form, he achieved impressive results, reviving the traditions peculiar Russian primitivism. But these works were almost not known to anybody.
 Only a few years after his death his paintings were exhibited at the show the audience at the State Russian Museum (1979), and it became clear that Vasnetsov was not only a great book illustrations, but also one of the greatest Russian painters of the XX century.