Ivan Bilibin Stage-set for the opera The Golden Cockerel 1909 Painting ID:: 94889 new26/Ivan Bilibin-995639.jpg
Stage-set for the opera The Golden Cockerel 1909 1909
cjr
Ivan Bilibin The Tale of Igor's Campaign Painting ID:: 94917 new26/Ivan Bilibin-669999.jpg
The Tale of Igor's Campaign cjr
Ivan Bilibin Koschei the Deathless from Marya Morevna 1900 Painting ID:: 94918 new26/Ivan Bilibin-458784.jpg
Koschei the Deathless from Marya Morevna 1900 cjr
Ivan Bilibin Baba Yaga from Vassilisa the Beautiful 1899 Painting ID:: 94919 new26/Ivan Bilibin-449654.jpg
Baba Yaga from Vassilisa the Beautiful 1899 cjr
Ivan Bilibin Vasilisa the Beautiful 1899 Painting ID:: 94920 new26/Ivan Bilibin-387674.jpg
Vasilisa the Beautiful 1899 cjr
Ivan Bilibin Ivan Tsarevich catching the Firebird's feather 1899 Painting ID:: 94921 new26/Ivan Bilibin-878383.jpg
Ivan Tsarevich catching the Firebird's feather 1899 cjr
Ivan Bilibin Father Frost and the step-daughter, illustration by Ivan Bilibin from Russian fairy tale Morozko, 1932 Painting ID:: 94922 new26/Ivan Bilibin-788446.jpg
Father Frost and the step-daughter, illustration by Ivan Bilibin from Russian fairy tale Morozko, 1932 cjr
Ivan Bilibin The Island of Buyan 1905 Painting ID:: 94923 new26/Ivan Bilibin-486888.jpg
The Island of Buyan 1905 cjr
Ivan Bilibin Dobrynya Nikitich rescues Zabava from the dragon Gorynych Painting ID:: 94924 new26/Ivan Bilibin-673794.jpg
Dobrynya Nikitich rescues Zabava from the dragon Gorynych cjr
Ivan Bilibin Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber Painting ID:: 94925 new26/Ivan Bilibin-989875.jpg
Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber cjr
Ivan Bilibin Yaroslav the Wise Painting ID:: 94926 new26/Ivan Bilibin-579784.jpg
Yaroslav the Wise cjr
Ivan Bilibin Alkonost Painting ID:: 94927 new26/Ivan Bilibin-374944.jpg
Alkonost cjr
Ivan Bilibin Justice of the Rus Painting ID:: 94928 new26/Ivan Bilibin-594666.jpg
Justice of the Rus cjr
Ivan Bilibin Sadko Painting ID:: 94929 new26/Ivan Bilibin-976959.jpg
(Russian, 16 August [O.S. 4 August] 1876 - 7 February 1942) was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore.
Ivan Bilibin was born in a suburb of St. Petersburg. He studied in 1898 at Anton Ažbe Art School in Munich, then under Ilya Repin in St. Peterburg. In 1902-1904 Bilibin travelled in the Russian North, where he became fascinated with old wooden architecture and Russian folklore. He published his findings in the monograph Folk Arts of the Russian North in 1904. Another influence on his art was traditional Japanese prints.
Bilibin gained renown in 1899, when he released his illustrations of Russian fairy tales. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, he drew revolutionary cartoons. He was the designer for the 1909 premiere production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel. The October Revolution, however, proved alien to him. After brief stints in Cairo and Alexandria, he settled in Paris in 1925. There he took to decorating private mansions and Orthodox churches. He still longed for his homeland and, after decorating the Soviet Embassy in 1936, he returned to Soviet Russia. He delivered lectures in the Soviet Academy of Arts until 1941. Bilibin died during the Siege of Leningrad.