The Revolutionary animal shapes of Vladimir Lebedev

Russian graphic artist, painter and illustrator Vladimir Vasil'evich Lebedev (1891-1967) gave rise

 to the cutting-edge Leningrad school of illustrated children’s books during the Soviet era

 His creative collaboration with poet, author and translator Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (1887-1964)

 brought together the innovative talents of two extraordinary artists. Lebedev was art editor of 

the state publishing house Gosizdat (later Detgiz) from 1924 to 1933, while Marshak was its editor-in-chief. 

Marshak had a talent for educating children about the Soviet Socialist ideas without sounding 

too pompous or preachy. The eclectic Lebedev had worked as a poster artist during the Civil War,

 and his early work combined the influences of Cubism and lubok folk prints.

Together they gave birth to almost fifty titles, many of them classics often republished 

and familiar to several generations of Russian children.

Slonyonok (The Elephant's Child, 1922)

Lubodev's geometrically shaped illustrations for Rudyard Kipling's The Elephant's Child made

 an enormous impression on artists and critics as a revolutionary work of Constructivist

graphic art and became the manifesto of a new approach to childrens' book illustration.

 At first, most children were not as impressed by Lebedev's flattened and schematic representations. 

In a survey by The Bulletin of the Children's Reading Institute Review Commission (!), they complained

 that the stencil-like gaps irritated them, and were disturbed by the seemingly cut up and torn apart

 animal shapes. This shows how unconventional Lubodev's illustrative approach was at the time.

O glupom myshonke (A silly mouse, 1925)

Ochota (The Hunt, 1925)

Bagazh (The Luggage, 1926)

Pudel' (The Poodle, 1927)

WIth Pudel',Lebedev first developed a new impressionistic style, more spontaneous and free.

Skazki, pesni, zagadki (Fairy Tales, Songs, Riddles, 1935)

One of the drawings that came under ideological criticism.

In 1936, together with artist Vladimir Konashevich, Lebedev became the victim of a Stalinist

 diffamatory campaign. The two were violently criticized for the avant-garde style of their illustrations.

 In 1937 Detgiz was closed down, and many of its authors and editors were arrested and sent to Gulags.

 Marshak and Lebedev were lucky to survive; the first made a narrow escape to Moscow,

 while the latter changed his illustrative style to realistic and never again exhibited as a painter.