Our Notes & References

Lovely booklet, richly illustrated, showing Narbut’s distinctive artistic world of black-and-white silhouettes. One of 300 copies only, this one numbered 222.

The celebrated Ukrainian artist and illustrator Egor/Georgii Narbut (1886–1920) was a member of the “Mir Iskusstva” (World of Art) art group in Saint Petersburg, and founder and dean of the Academy of Arts in Kyiv. Gollerbakh’s critical essay offers insightful observations on both Narbut’s work specifically and the art of silhouette more broadly, and is supported by an extensive bibliography of publications about Narbut’s art.

The book’s rich illustration includes delicate portraits of his family members and notable illustrations children books, such as Knebel’s fables of Ivan Krylov and Andersen’s fairy tales. These expressive silhouettes represent well Narbut’s easily recognisable elegant and refined style, much visible for example in his famous illustration for Krylov’s “The Peasant and Death.”

Published just a few years after the artist’s untimely death, Gollerbakh’s book appeared the same year as a solo exhibition of Narbut’s works was organised in Kyiv, showing the artist’s broad talent: he had also created a landmark Ukrainian ABC, designed banknotes, postage stamps, and official charters for the newly established Ukrainian National Republic, essentially developing a visual brand for the country that remains recognisable today.

Erikh Fedorovich Gollerbakh (1895–1942) was an art critic, bibliographer, and devoted bibliophile, author of numerous books and articles about art.

Bibliography

Beletskii P., Georgii Ivanovich Narbut, Leningrad, 1985.