EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 20 © 2017 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

1 ISSUE TWENTY: THE RUSSIAN ROMANTICS by Diego Cordoba CONTENTS 2 Their travelling art shows touched the souls of princes and peasants. 94 40 The life of one of Russia’s greatest fantasy illustrators by Peter Richardson. Ivan Bilibin The Wanderers EDITORIAL Majestic landscapes, galloping horses and gaudily clad warriors—Russian Romance at its richest!. 70 Franz Roubaud We are delighted to present you with one of our most exciting issues yet—and the two chaps that should take the credit for this Russian Romantics special issue, are none other than our deputy editor Diego Cordoba and our publisher GeoffWest. It was Geoff who first mooted the idea for showcasing the work of some of the most spectacular Russian artists ever to apply paint to canvas, and Diego who made Geoff’s vision a reality.When the rest of our teamsaw the layouts that Diego had created, wewere as swept away by themagnificence of this art as we hope youwill be. The lead feature is aptly titled ‘The Wanderers’, and within its pages you will discover the story of a group of artists whose passion for sharing their art, with as wide an audience as possible, led them to live a semi-nomadic existence as they journeyed across the land, staging exhibitions of their art at the towns and villages they passed through. Our second feature focuses on the work of one of the premier exponents of life in the saddle. Franz Roubaud was in many ways the Russian equivalent of US artist, Frederic Remington. Both men had a profound appreciation of rugged landscape and the equally rugged lifestyles of the horsemen that they focused their art on. Our third and final feature in this Russian Romantics special, is devoted to the work of one of the premier fantasy artists from the ‘Golden Age of Picture Books’. Ivan Bilibin’s illustrations of Russian Fairy Tales have never been out of print, but despite his popularity, and a biography which appeared in 1982, next to nothing is known about his life. The hitherto untold story of IvanBilibin is an epic adventure, shaped by cataclysmic upheavals inEurope andRussia andhis tangled love life—he had threewives, none of whomhe ever got around to divorcing. There are some great books for you to check out in our review section—the work of Dan Zimmer and his team at the Illustrated Press continues to fill in glaring gaps in illustrator retrospectives.Of special note is thenewly-publishedcollectionof BernieFuchs’ workwith accompanying text byDavidApatoff.This book really is essential reading! Lastly, DiegoCordoba treats us to another of his stranger-than-fiction stories about the vicissitudes of the illustrator’s life and times—we hope you enjoy it. The opinions expressed in illustrators are those of the writers, and are not necessarily those of the editor and publishers. The accuracy of the authentication of all images is the responsibility of the contributors. From The Inside Apocryphal illustration stories. 96 The Bookshelf Fuchs, Wood, Cornwell Cover Image: Franz Roubaud Illustrators The Book Palace Jubilee House Bedwardine Road Crystal Palace London SE19 3AP Email: IQ@bookpalace.com Web: www.bookpalace.com Contact GW: gw@bookpalace.com Tel: 020 8768 0022 (From overseas +44 20 8768 0022) Publisher: Geoff West Editor & Art Director: Peter Richardson Deputy Editor: Diego Cordoba Layouts for all features by Diego Cordoba, with some assistance from Peter Richardson Consultant Editors: David Ashford, Norman Boyd Featured Writers: Diego Cordoba, Peter Richardson Website: Paul Tanner Subscriptions & Distribution: David Howarth Advertising: IQ@bookpalace.com illustrators ISBN 978-1-907081-42-2 ISSN 2052-6520 Issue Number 20 Published Autumn 2017 Copyright © 2017 by The Book Palace Ltd. All text and artwork copyright is vested with the respective creators and publishers. None of the material within these pages may be reproduced without the written consent of illustrators or the aforementioned copyright holders. The images reproduced within these pages are for research purposes and all efforts have been made to ensure their historical accuracy. Illustrators is published quarterly Back issues £20 each plus postage 4 issue subscriptions UK £55 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues EU/USA £70 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues ROW £75 POST FREE includes 4 free digital issues Available in the USA from budplant.com Trade Orders : IQ@bookpalace.com Printed in China by Prolong Press Ltd