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Bookplate "Library of the Stamp Department of the Senate"

Heorhii Narbut

Basic information

ID: ФМз-Г-IV-612
Author: Heorhii Narbut
Name: Bookplate "Library of the Stamp Department of the Senate"
Technique: woodcut
Material: paper
Dimensions (height x width, cm): 10 x 8.3

Additionally

Type: graphic art
Genre: bookplate (ex libris)
Provenance: Yaroslava Muzyka Fund

Information about author

Author: Heorhii Narbut
Artist's lifetime: 1886–1920
Country: Ukraine
Biography: Heorhii Narbut (March 9, 1886, Narbutivka, Sumy region – May 23, 1920, Kyiv) was an outstanding Ukrainian graphic artist, illustrator, founder of the original Ukrainian style of graphics and font of the 20th century, and the author of the first Ukrainian state signs (banknotes and postage stamps). He was one of the co-founders and rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. He received his primary education at the Hlukhiv men's gymnasium (1895–1906). In 1906–1917, he lived in Saint Petersburg, where he studied at the Faculty of Philology of Saint Petersburg University. At the same time, he took private art lessons from I. Bilibin, M. Dobuzhynskyi, E. Zvantseva. In 1909, he improved his skills in Munich at the school of Simon Hollósy, where he became interested in the artistic manner of A. Dürer. After returning to Saint Petersburg, he joined the "World of Art" art association. In 1910–1912, he worked on illustrations for fairy tales by H. C. Andersen, fables by I. Krylov, and folk tales. The defining influence on Narbut's work was ancient Ukrainian painting and graphic art of the 17th–18th centuries, heraldry of Ukrainian families, graphics of Ukrainian manuscripts and old printed books. As an expert in heraldry, the artist performed many coats of arms, illustrated the "Little Russian Coat of Arms" by V. V. Lukomskyi and V. Modzalevskyi (1914), "Coats of Arms of the Hetmans of Little Russia" (1915), "Ancient Architecture of Galicia" (1915), "Ancient Estates of Kharkiv Province" (1917). In 1917, Heorhii Narbut moved to Kyiv. During this period, he became the creator of the Ukrainian state emblem and seal, designed banknotes and postage stamps of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 30, 40 and 50 shahs, and illustrated periodicals and books. The culmination of the artist's work was the "Ukrainian Alphabet" (1917–1919), in which the artist achieved simplicity and, at the same time, sophistication of composition, drawing and colour. In depicting the letters of the alphabet, Narbut combined the achievements of Ukrainian manuscripts and printed books and the achievements of Western European font masters. The last great artistic idea of Narbut was the illustration of "Eneida" by Ivan Kotliarevskyi, but due to his early death, the artist managed to perform only one illustration.