Vladimir Lebedev

Vladimir Vasilyevich Lebedev (; 26 May 1891 – 21 November 1967) was part of the Russian avant-garde: A painter, a political cartoonist and a poster artist, with an experimental style influenced by Russian folk art, lubki, futurism, constructivism, suprematism, productionism and cubism. A pioneer in the field of children's illustration, he would later acknowledge his role in inventing a new illustrative style, created in the "language of cubism." Together, they published more than a dozen picture books, on topics both fanciful: Tale About a Foolish Mouse and instructive: How a Plane Made a Plane. Raduga ("The Rainbow"), a renowned Soviet publishing house published most of them. He was one of the members of the art association ‘The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad in 1924-1931.

The demise of Raduga coincided with the state's push toward social realism, which forced Lebedev toward a more naturalistic style. By then, however, his reputation was already made. Nowadays, he is still classified as one of the most important Russian and Soviet children's book illustrators. His collaboration with Marshak is also considered among the most innovative in the history of children's literature. His first exhibit at the Academy of Fine Arts was held five years later.

In 1913, he began working as a political cartoonist for several satirical journals, including the famed Satirikon (Сатирикон). By then, he was already a prolific illustrator for the children's magazines Jackdaw (Галчонок), Blue Journal (Синий Журнал), Everyone's Journal (Журнал для всех), and Argus (Аргус) and, in 1917, he had also illustrated the children's book The Lion and the Bull. Since both newspapers and literacy were limited, the posters were strategically displayed in empty shop windows — known as ROSTA windows — which functioned as a crude form of mass communications. In the mid-1920s, he partnered with poet Samuil Marshak to create both picture books and politically conscious "production books." The latter form, unique to the Soviet Union, told stories that taught children about "the world of workers and how things are made" Their titles included: Circus, Ice Cream, Tale About a Foolish Mouse, Moustached and Striped, Book of Many Colours, Twelve Months and Luggage, as well as The Table, How a Plane Made a Plane, Bread, My Little Book about the Seas and the Lighthouse, the Mail, and On the River. By the late 1920s and 30s, most of Lebedev's peers had left the Soviet Union, but he remained. As social realism began to dominate arts and letters, and "acquir[ed] the status of state policy in 1934," Lebedev was among the artists who "became victims of frequent attacks." The book was the subject of reviews in The Guardian and The Financial Times, His second wife was ballerina and choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina, whose portrait Lebedev painted several times. His third marriage was to writer Ada Lazlo in 1940.

Collections The Art Institute of Chicago: 1940s war propaganda Dartmouth Digital Library: Russian Placards, 1917-1922 Getty Research: Union List of Artists Names Library of Congress: 1920s Soviet Production illustrations McGill University: Children's book illustration Museum of Modern Art (MOMA): Children's book illustration Miami University: Walter Havighurst Special Collections & University Archives: Children's books University of Washington Libraries: Children's books and Soviet Production books