Boris Mikhailovich Artzybasheff (russian: , 25 May 1899,

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

– 16 July 1965) was a Ukrainian

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

active in the United States, notable for his strongly worked and often surreal designs.

Life and career

Artzybasheff was born in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

, son of the author

Mikhail Artsybashev Mikhail Petrovich Artsybashev (russian: Михаи́л Петро́вич Арцыба́шев, pl, Michał Arcybaszew; November 5, 1878 – March 3, 1927) was a Ukrainian writer and playwright, and a major proponent of the literary style known ...

. He is said to have fought as a White Russian. During 1919 he arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where he worked in an engraving shop. His earliest work appeared in 1922 as illustrations for ''Verotchka's Tales'' and ''The Undertaker's Garland''. A number of other book illustrations followed during the 1920s. Dhan Gopal Mukerji's ''

Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon ''Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon'' is a 1927 children's novel by Dhan Gopal Mukerji that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1928. It deals with the life of Gay-Neck, a prized Indian pigeon. Mukerji wrote th ...

'', with his illustrations, was awarded the

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

in 1928. His book '' Seven Simeons'' was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1938. Over the course of his career, he illustrated some 50 books, several of which he wrote, most notably ''As I See''. During his lifetime, however, Artzybasheff was probably known best for his magazine art. He illustrated the major American magazines ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'', ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'', and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

''.) He painted 219 ''Time'' covers from 1942 to 1966, including portraits of

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

(21 February 1949) and

Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...

(8 November 1954). Other illustrators of ''Time'' covers during this period, which has been called the golden age of ''Time'' covers, included Robert Vickrey, James Ormsbee Chapin, Bernard Safran and

Boris Chaliapin Boris Chaliapin (Russian: Борис Фёдорович Шаля́пин; September 22, 1904 – May 18, 1979) was an artist for ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine, for which he illustrated more than 400 covers, from 1942 (Jawaharlal Nehru) to Ric ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he also served an expert advisor to the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

Psychological Warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and M ...

Branch. After 1940, he devoted himself to

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of prom ...

, including

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

s for

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

, Casco Power Tools,

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primar ...

Steamship lines,

Parke-Davis Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although Parke, Davis & Co. is no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history. In 19 ...

, Avco Manufacturing, Scotch Tape, Wickwire Spencer Steel Company, Vultee Aircraft,

World Airways World Airways, Inc. was a United States airline headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia in Greater Atlanta. The company operated mostly non-scheduled services but did fly scheduled passenger services as well, notably with McDonnell Douglas DC- ...

, and

Parker Pens The Parker Pen Company is a French manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011 the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its producti ...

. His graphic style is striking. In commercial work he explored grotesque experiments in

anthropomorphism Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

, where toiling machines displayed distinctly human attributes. Conversely, one of his works shows

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing ...

's head in the form of Fuller's

geodesic In geometry, a geodesic () is a curve representing in some sense the shortest path ( arc) between two points in a surface, or more generally in a Riemannian manifold. The term also has meaning in any differentiable manifold with a connecti ...

structure. In his personal work, he explored the depiction of vivid and extreme ranges of human psychology and emotion. His papers are collected at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Selected illustrations

* ''Verotchka's Tales'', by

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak (russian: Дми́трий Нарки́сович Ма́мин-Сибиря́к) (October 25, 1852 – November 2, 1912) was a Russian author most famous for his novels and short stories about life in the Ur ...

( E. P. Dutton, 1922), �
Illustrations at Wikimedia
* ''The Undertaker's Garland'', by

John Peale Bishop John Peale Bishop (May 21, 1892 – April 4, 1944) was an American poet and man of letters. Biography Bishop was born in Charles Town, West Virginia, to a family from New England, and attended school in Hagerstown, Maryland and Mercersburg Acade ...

and

Edmund Wilson Edmund Wilson Jr. (May 8, 1895 – June 12, 1972) was an American writer and literary critic who explored Freudian and Marxist themes. He influenced many American authors, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, whose unfinished work he edited for publi ...

( A. A. Knopf, 1922), �
Illustrations at Wikimedia
* ''Feats on the Fiord'', by

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretic ...

, 1802–1876 (Macmillan Children's Classics, 1924) * ''

The Wonder Smith and His Son ''The Wonder-Smith and His Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World'' is a children's book by Ella Young. It is a collection of fourteen stories about Gubbaun Saor, the legendary Irish smith and architect. The book, illustrated by Boris ...

'', by Ella Young (1927) * ''

'', by Dhan Gopal Mukerji (1927) * ''Orpheus: Myths of the World'', by

Padraic Colum Padraic Colum (8 December 1881 – 11 January 1972) was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival. Early life Col ...

(1930) * ''Son of the Sword'', by Youel B. Mirza (1934), * ''All Things Are Possible: An Apocryphal Novel'', by Lewis Browne, dust jacket (1935) * ''

The Circus of Dr. Lao ''The Circus of Dr. Lao'' (1935) is a novel written by the American newspaperman and writer Charles G. Finney. It won one of the inaugural National Book Awards: the Most Original Book of 1935. "Books and Authors", ''The New York Times'', 1936-0 ...

'', by Charles G. Finney (1935) * '' Seven Simeons: a Russian Tale'', written by Artzybasheff (1937) * '' Nansen'', by Anne Gertrude Hall (1940) * '' Land of Unreason'', by

Fletcher Pratt Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War and for fiction written with L. Sprague de Camp. ...

and L. Sprague de Camp (1942) * ''The Tree of Life: Selections from the Literature of the World's Religions'', by Ruth Smith (1942) * ''

The Little Sister ''The Little Sister'' is a 1949 novel by Raymond Chandler, his fifth featuring the private investigator Philip Marlowe. The story is set in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and follows Marlowe's investigation of a missing persons case and blac ...

'', by

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

, dust jacket (1949) * ''

The Simple Art of Murder ''The Simple Art of Murder'' is the title of several quasi-connected publications by hard-boiled detective fiction author Raymond Chandler: *The first, and arguably best-known, is a critical essay on detective fiction, originally published in '' ...

'', by Raymond Chandler, dust jacket (1950) As the illustrator of ''Seven Simeons'', which he also wrote, Artzybasheff was one of two runners-up for the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

in 1938, when the American Library Association inaugurated its award for children's picture books. Mukerji won the 1928

for ''Gay Neck''; Young and Hall were among the runners-up for that annual ALA award, which recognizes the "most distinguished contribution to children's literature". Finney won one of the inaugural, 1935 National Book Awards for ''The Circus of Dr. Lao''.

References

External links

*
Boris Artzybasheff posters
hosted by th
University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections1951 Christmas Card
*
Guide to the Roman Weil Collection of Boris Artzybasheff 1929-1965
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artzybasheff, Boris 1899 births 1965 deaths Artists from Kharkiv People from Kharkovsky Uyezd American speculative fiction artists American illustrators White Russian emigrants to the United States

Life and career

Selected illustrations

Further reading

References

External links