Narbut illustration. Georgy Narbut: Magic lines of the book master
Georgiy Narbut is a Ukrainian graphic artist, illustrator, rector and co-founder of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. He created a project for the emblem and seal of the UNR, and also artistically designed the first Ukrainian banknotes and stamps.
On December 19, 1917, a denomination of 100 rubles was printed - the first banknote UNR. And it was designed by George Narbut - a great connoisseur of ancient Ukrainian art and heraldry. Georgy Ivanovich used decorative fonts and ornaments in the Ukrainian baroque style of the 17th-18th centuries, reproduced a crossbow (like the one on the coat of arms of the Kiev magistrate of the 16th-18th centuries), and also depicted the trident of St. Vladimir (today the state emblem of Ukraine).
On March 1, 1918, a new page of the Ukrainian hryvnia begins. By decision of the Central Rada, hryvnias were printed in denominations of 2, 10, 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 (the projects of the last two were completed after the proclamation of the hetmanate). Georgy Narbut made sketches of banknotes: 10, 100 and 500 hryvnias. The 10 hryvnia banknote is decorated with ornaments from Ukrainian book engravings of the 17th century; 500-hryvnia is decorated with a girl's head in a wreath (this bill received an ironic vernacular name"gorpinka").
Hetman Pavel Skoropadsky, having come to power (1918), restored the ruble as a monetary unit Ukrainian state. Georgy Narbut also made a sketch of a banknote of 100 rubles. On it, the artist depicted the coat of arms of the Ukrainian state, industrial motifs, a portrait of Bohdan Khmelnitsky (on watermarks). Skoropadsky also approved the small State seal designed by Narbut - on an octagonal background there is a Cossack with a squeaker on his shoulder, and a Vladimir trident on top.
Being an excellent connoisseur of Ukrainian heraldry and ancient art, Narbut made a lot of coats of arms. He was the chief illustrator and designer of the books-collections "Little Russian armorial", "Coats of arms of the hetmans of Little Russia", " ancient architecture Galicia", "Ancient estates of the Kharkov province", etc. Every summer Narbut visited Glukhov - the city of Cossack glory. The artist also created his own coat of arms, which he signed as follows: “Mazepinets of the Chernigov regiment, Hlukhiv hundred, officer’s son, painter of coats of arms and emblems.”
One of the well-known researchers of Narbut's work F. Ernst wrote about the artist: "He was a Ukrainian not only by blood, language, beliefs - all his works are saturated with the Ukrainian element, and the formal source of his genius invariably beats from the native black earth of Chernihiv region."
Georgy Narbut was born on February 26, 1886 in the Narbutovka farmstead of the Esmansky volost of the Glukhovsky district of the Chernigov province, in the family of an impoverished nobleman, a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kyiv University. Among the ancestors of Narbut were Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. The mother of the future artist is the daughter of a priest. The Narbutov family had seven children. The future artist grew up in nature, from childhood he was surrounded by architectural monuments, old books and paintings.
Georgy Narbut recalled: “From an early age, as far as I can remember, painting attracted me. In the absence of paints, which I did not see until I got to the gymnasium, and pencils, I used colored paper: cut out with scissors and glued with flour glue.
It was this childhood passion that contributed to the formation of “silhouette thinking” in the future artist.
And in Ukrainian villages at that time, paper clippings, the so-called “vytynanka”, were popular. George improved his skills more and more. He studied at the Glukhov Gymnasium. His first attempts at graphics, as he himself later recalled, were written gothic font with ornamented large letters "Teaching Vladimir Monomakh to his children" and "The Gospel of Matthew".
Having moved to the capital - Petersburg, Narbut settled with the famous Russian graphic artist Ivan Bilibin, from whom he directly learned the art. And a few years later he himself entered the circle of artists who restored the art of the book in Russia and called their group "World of Art". So the artist begins to search for his special and unique style. In 1912, in the design of Andersen's fairy tale "The Nightingale" and Krylov's fables, the artist uses a silhouette style. The peculiarity of its graphics is decorativeness and clarity. contour drawing.
He decorates the book "The Nightingale" more than illustrates, transferring the viewer to China, but not to the real one, but to the one that existed on porcelain products. Narbut created his own exquisite world in the book, as he made not only the cover, but also headlines, endings, and capital letters.
When the revolution began, Georgy Ivanovich returned to Ukraine and dramatically democratized: new motives and a new technique of performance appeared in his works. He did not blindly imitate old models, as others often did, but freely created, continuing the good and strong tradition of national art.
The main masterpiece of the Kyiv period "Ukrainian alphabet" by Georgy Narbut became a landmark for all subsequent generations Ukrainian artists. The ABC sheets, like the embroidered national towels, have schematic drawings, where a clear ornamental composition is combined with funny images of the heroes of Ukrainian folklore.
In 1920, new opportunities opened up for Narbut: the Academy received a spacious building on Khreshchatyk, the graphic department received printing presses, and publishing was revived. Georgy Ivanovich, despite serious illness, worked hard.
In his latest works, Georgiy Narbut developed in graphics the idea of the cultural immortality of the people, which raised Ukrainian art high in the vibrant era of renaissance.
Georgy Ivanovich Narbut- Russian and Ukrainian graphic artist and illustrator. He was born on February 28, 1886 on the Narbutovka farm, not far from the town of Glukhov (Sumy region) in a family that belonged to an old but impoverished noble family. His father, Ivan Yakovlevich, is a graduate of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Kyiv University. The artist's mother, Neonila Nikolaevna, was the daughter of a priest. The Narbutov family had seven children. Family members had nothing to do with fine arts, but Georgy Ivanovich nevertheless became an artist, namely a graphic artist.
The family was not rich, in childhood the artist did not have paints, his father invested all his salary in growing an orchard. The future artist grew up among nature, could spend hours looking at herbs and flowers, butterflies and grasshoppers, read Russian folk tales. All this was later reflected in the artist's work. Georgy Ivanovich's creative inclinations appeared early. He later recalled: “From an early age, as far as I can remember, painting attracted me. Due to the lack of colors, which I had not seen until I got to the gymnasium, I used colored paper: I cut it out with scissors and glued it with flour glue.” It turned out a silhouette-application. It was this childhood passion that contributed to the formation of "silhouette thinking" in the future artist.
Since 1896, he studied at the Glukhov Gymnasium, where he became interested in book illustration and became interested in heraldry. As the artist himself later recalled, his first attempts at graphics were rewritten in Gothic font with ornamented capital letters“Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh to his children”, “The Gospel of Matthew”, “The Song of Roland”. The magazine "World of Art" had a huge influence on the young Narbut, where he especially liked Bilibin's illustrations. He began to draw illustrations, imitating the "World of Art". In 1906, in Glukhov, a large art exhibition was held, at which Narbut's illustrations for the fairy tale by E. D. Polenova "Mushroom War" were exhibited. These drawings were a huge success and brought the artist a significant fee. At the same time, he illustrated the fairy tales "The Snow Maiden" and "The Gorshenya". The artist's early works also include illustrations for the fairy tales "The Wooden Eagle" and "The Bear". at the end of August they enter St. Petersburg University.But Georgy Ivanovich practically did not attend classes.In St. Petersburg, he met Bilibin, and he took him under his protection, introduced him to the circle of "World of Art", offered him a room in his house. The period that George lived with Ivan Yakovlevich was a real school of skill for the novice artist. Bilibin himself called his new student "a talent of immense proportions."
Narbut tried himself in the most different genres, but him main passion was book illustration. Very soon the artist became one of the most popular designers of books and magazines in St. Petersburg, and publishing houses competed for the right to cooperate with him. In the 1910s, easel works "Landscape with a Comet", "Scientist's Study", etc. began to appear. In the same year he designed a book consisting of two fairy tales: "Teremok" and "Mizgir". First significant work two children's books for kids became a young student: "Dance, Matvey, do not spare bast shoes" (1910) and "Toys" (1911). In these books he used stylized images of Russian folk toys. Illustrated books: "Fables of Krylov" (1912); G. H. Andersen "The Nightingale" (1912), "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" (1913), "The Old Street light"(1913). In 1913-1914, he designed the collections "Russian Icon" published by S. Makovsky, publications on ancient culture for Brockhaus and Efron, made popular prints on military theme, performed illustrations for the literary and artistic magazine "Lukomorye". Particularly interesting are the "military allegories" he made at that time. After October revolution 1917 Narbut returned to Ukraine. In Kyiv, he was engaged in the creation of sketches of the military uniforms of the Ukrainian army. Georgy Ivanovich designed many Ukrainian magazines, collections of poems. The best work of this time were the sheets for the Ukrainian alphabet, begun back in Petrograd. All sheets were made in classical technique pen and ink drawing. An illustrator of books by Krylov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Andersen and other writers, he was fond of theater, the author of the first Ukrainian banknotes, letters, postcards, postage stamps and the design of the coat of arms of the Ukrainian state. In the autumn of 1917, he became a professor at the newly formed Ukrainian Academy of Arts, six months later its rector. At the end of 1919, Narbut began to write his memoirs. He lived only thirty-four years. He died in May 1920 in Kyiv. Georgy Ivanovich was not just an interesting artist - he was among those who laid the foundation for Ukrainian Soviet graphics and higher graphic education in Ukraine.
Children's books of the publishing house I. N. Knebel: Facsimile reproduction of twelve books published by the publishing house in 1909-1914. / [ed. V. I. Sinyukov; artist: G. I. Narbut, N. P. Ulyanov, D. I. Mitrokhin].- M.: Book, 1989
Tales: Teremok. Mizgir. ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1910
Zhukovsky V. How mice buried a cat: ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1910
Crane and heron. Bear. ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1907
Dance, Matvey, do not spare your bast shoes. ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1910
I.A. Krylov. Three fables: / Liar, Peasant and Death, Fortune and beggar /. ed. Knebel, 1911
G. H. Andersen. Jumper. ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1913
G. H. Andersen. Nightingale. ed. Knebel, Moscow, 1912
I. A. Krylov. 1812 in Krylov's fables. St. Petersburg: Publication of the Community of St. Eugenia, 1912
Artist's works:
Andersen G. H. Nightingale. G. Narbut
Wooden eagle. G. Narbut
Krylov I. A. The cuckoo and the rooster. G. narbut
Georgy Narbut is an artist and illustrator. He was engaged in the design of children's books, magazines. Became the author of the first banknotes and postage stamps of the Ukrainian state. We will talk about the details of his professional and personal life.
George Narbut: biography
The artist was born in 1886 on the territory of modern Ukraine. His father was a minor employee, although he belonged to a Lithuanian noble family. Mother was the daughter of a priest. In addition to George, the family had eight more children.
Together with his younger brother, he entered the Glukhov Gymnasium, then the Faculty of Philology at St. Petersburg University. Very soon Georgy Narbut met the illustrator and artist Ivan Bilibin, who became his first mentor. He also studied with Mstislav Dobuzhinsky and Leon Bakst, and in 1910 visited a graphic studio in Munich.
Narbut became a member of the World of Arts association, worked in the Apollon and Herboved magazines, and served in the department of heraldry. In 1915 he was drafted into the army, where he got a job in the Red Cross. In 1917, the schedule moved to Kyiv.
In the capital, George Narbut becomes a professor and co-founder of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. He teaches Lozovsky, Mogilevsky, Khizhinsky, Kirnarsky. In 1919, one position replaces another. Narbut is included in trade union artists, then to the Commissariat for Arts and Culture. Later he holds the position of head of the department of arts in the People's Commissariat of Education, controlling print media.
self-taught amateur
Georgy Narbut was fond of painting since childhood, he was especially fascinated by ornaments. He began to form artistic skills himself, without anyone's help. When there was not enough money for paint, young Narbut cut out patterns and silhouettes from colored paper, pasting them around the house.
Later I became interested in redrawing. He constantly copied frames, fonts, initials of old books, repeated sketches from I. Bilibin's books. At the university, he found his like-minded people. In the evenings they gathered to draw together. And once they arranged an exhibition, inviting experienced craftsmen to it.
Bilibin immediately noted the potential of Narbut and even recommended it for the Roerich school. His undoubted talent was reinforced by persistent practice. Georgy Narbut studied from morning until late at night. He received recognition and respect during his lifetime. He was called "an immense talent", and Georgy Lukomsky dubbed him " the best schedule in the world".
George Narbut: illustrations for fairy tales
Narbut created the very first illustration for the book at school. It was an image for the poem "The Song of Roland". The next works were the fairy tale "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by A. Pushkin, "Stories" by Sholom Ash, "Fence" by V. Pyast. At first, the artist was accused of lack of individuality and imitation of Bilibin. However, very soon he managed to develop his own individual style.
In Germany, he works on books by V. Zhukovsky, publishes a series of books called "Toys". Most famous works are George's illustrations for Krylov's fables and Andersen's tales. Narbut's author's style is most clearly represented here.
His pen belongs to the design of the book "Three Fables of Krylov", "Krylov: Fables" and "1812 in Krylov's Fables", and the cover for Andersen's book "The Nightingale" is considered one of the best works masters. He also designed the cover for The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Jumper book. Narbut's last book was The Love Tale of a Beautiful Queen and a Faithful Prince, published in 1916.
Ukrainian period
The work of George Narbut was not limited to the design of children's books. The artist delves into the study of Ukrainian art and heraldry. In 1913, he participated in the compilation of the Little Russian Armorial, where he designed the cover of the book and about 160 coats of arms. In 1915, the book “Coats of Arms of the Hetmans of Little Russia” was published.
Having moved to Kyiv, he takes on the design of various packaging, stamps, playing cards in national style. Passion for fonts and ornaments is reflected in the development of the Ukrainian alphabet, which the artist did not have time to complete. The letters of the alphabet combined domestic and foreign book traditions, their style is often called "Narbutov's".
What else did Georgy Narbut do? The artist's illustrations were published in a dozen magazines, such as Zorya, Mystetstvo, Our Past. His works were based on Ukrainian folklore motifs. IN last years In his lifetime, he designed Zaitsev’s book “Oksana, Shevchenko’s First Love” and began work on Kotlyarevsky’s Aeneid, which he never finished.
National symbols
In 1918 Georgy Narbut was designing national symbols Ukraine. He creates the State Seal, which depicts a Cossack with a musket framed by a baroque cartouche. Above the Cossack was a trident. The image was placed on 1000 karbovans.
In addition, Narbut designed the first banknote of the UNR - 100 karbovanets, where he used elements of the Ukrainian baroque, a trident and the coat of arms of the Kyiv magistrate of the 18th century. After the introduction of the hryvnia, the artist made sketches for banknotes of 10, 100 and 500 hryvnia.
He also competed in best decoration postage stamps, after which George became the author of the first stamps in the UNR for 30, 40, 50 steps. One of them depicted "Young Ukraine" - an allegory in the form of a girl with a wreath on her head. She was present on the banknote of 500 hryvnia.
Personal life
Georgy Narbut was married twice during his life. Also in school years he fell in love with a classmate of his younger brother, Maria Belovskaya. They often talked, and, being a student, the artist proposed to the girl. But the offer was rejected, as she was in love with his brother Vladimir.
George did not waste time and in the same year fell in love with Vera Kiryakova. She was the daughter of a landowner in the artist's native village of Narbutovka. In 1913 they got married. In marriage, they had two children. Daughter Marina Berezovskaya became a choreographer and performer of classical dance. Son Daniel became a famous artist.
In 1918, Narbut married Natalya Modzalevskaya. She was previously his wife close friend Vadim Modzalevsky. In 1920 Georgy Narbut died after an operation to remove kidney stones. He was buried on
Narbut G.I.
(1886-1920), Russian and Ukrainian graphic artist. In 1906-17 he lived in St. Petersburg. He studied with L. S. Bakst, K. A. Somov. As an artist, he was formed under the influence of the masters of the "World of Art", mainly I. Ya. Bilibin. Narbut's works (illustrations, book design) are distinguished by the clarity of the contour drawing and the sharp decorativeness of the compositions, the use of solid black silhouettes (illustrations for the fables of I. A. Krylov, published in 1911-12), as well as the ornaments and heraldry of ancient Ukrainian engravings (illustrations for the book G. K. Lukomsky "Galicia in its antiquity", published in 1915).
Poetry". Screensaver for the journal "Mistetstvo". Ink, pen. 1919. Museum of Ukrainian visual arts Ukrainian SSR. Kyiv.
Literature:(P. Beletsky), G. Narbut. Album of reproductions, K., 1983.
(Source: "Popular Art Encyclopedia." Edited by Polevoy V.M.; M.: Publishing House "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1986.)
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“They wanted to get gray oxen to carry, according to the old Ukrainian custom, his coffin, but they didn’t find it.”
George Narbut was buried in a Cossack zhupan with a silver button...
— I don't like Moscow region. I love Ukraine, and I will give it all my strength,” says artist Georgy Narbut to archivist Yakov Zhdanovich at the end of 1917.
A native of the Narbutovka farm near Glukhov - the current Sumy region - he lived in St. Petersburg for 10 years. Became one of the most popular book and magazine designers. Publishing houses compete for the right to cooperate with him. But after February Revolution decides to move home. Power in Kyiv belongs to the Central Rada, they create the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. Narbut is offered to become her professor - the youngest of eight.
The Academy was opened on December 5, 1917. On the eve of the Pedagogical Museum, where the Council met, there is an exhibition of her teachers. Narbut presents 11 of his works. In particular, seven drawings from the series "Ukrainian alphabet" and his silhouette portrait. Among Ukrainian artists who knew little of Narbut before, the works made a splash. Not less than vivid impression produced by the author. "We are all this cheerful, fat man with lively penetrating eyes, in the clothes of a Zemgusar, he immediately captivated me with his attractiveness, ”recalls his colleague professor Vasily Krichevsky.
Georgy Narbut was born on March 9, 1886. His ancestor was a well-born Cossack Moses Narbut. IN late XVII century, he had a mill near Glukhov - now the Sumy region - around which the Narbutovka family farm was subsequently formed.
After the abolition of the Hetmanate, the Narbuts became landowners. George's parents had nine children. “From an early age, as long as I can remember, I was drawn to drawing,” he recalled. “Due to the lack of paints, which I had not seen until I got to the gymnasium, and a pencil, I used colored paper: I cut it out with scissors and glued it with dough.” After graduating from the Glukhov Gymnasium, together with his brother Vladimir, who later became a Russian-speaking poet, he entered St. Petersburg University.
He studied oriental languages, then transferred to the Faculty of Philology. He studied privately with the artists Ivan Bilibin and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. In 1909, he improved his skills with the Hungarian painter Shimon Golloshi in Munich. “Narbut sat down to draw in the morning, worked all day, all night, not going to bed, but only smoking mountains of cigarettes, he worked in the morning and handed over the drawing before lunch,” writes artist Dmitry Matrokhin.
His stamina, perseverance and stubbornness were extraordinary. Such an incredible capacity for work, not Russian any, quickly made him a master, an outstanding performer and illustrator of fonts, vignettes, wrappers and illustrations for children's books, wonderful in their ingenuity, wit and a barely noticeable smile. Having mastered the technique, Narbut with extraordinary ease and speed painted black endless combinations of strokes and spots from the inexhaustible treasury of imagination and memory.
With his wife, Vera Kiryakova, and two children, 3-year-old Marina and 12-month-old Daniel, they first live with friends on Vladimirskaya. Clashes are still going on in Kyiv - the troops of the Central Rada, the Bolsheviks and the Provisional Government are fighting for the city. Explosions rumble, power outages often. The essentials are missing - part of the family's luggage was lost on the road. Narbut works all day long, often spending the night at the printing house - it is dangerous to walk the streets in the evening.
“Narbut faced a huge task. Once graphics, art, printing flourished in Ukraine. Later, due to the bleeding and leveling of Ukrainian culture by the Russian government, the art of printing declined and lost its national traits the tradition was interrupted.
Publishing houses that printed books in Ukrainian produced something terrible on such paper and with such drawings, which were more like hotbeds of petty-bourgeois bad taste, and rather compromised Ukrainian culture than campaigned for her.
Thus, the task of the new graphic school was not to confine itself to drawing individual pictures to the text, but to revive the art of the book as a whole, to raise the skill of the printers themselves, to create not only an artistic, but also a national Ukrainian book, to develop their own, new font, to re-educate artistic sense and the whole of society,” writes art critic Fyodor Ernst in an introductory article to the catalog of the posthumous exhibition of Georgy Narbut’s works in 1926.
“Life in Kyiv at that time was terrible in every respect,” Narbut’s wife writes in her memoirs. The city had a pitiful appearance and was a real province. The streets were not cleaned and in many places they were overgrown with grass, in the yards - a solid swamp and garbage. The traffic on the streets quickly stopped, the windows of the houses were covered with curtains, which made the poorly lit streets seem even darker and more deserted.
A month and a half later, the family rents an apartment on the second floor of a wooden house in Georgievsky Lane - near Sofia Kievskaya. In order to better see the cathedral from the windows, Narbut asks to cut down a dry tree in the garden. In the spring, his friend Vadym Modzalevsky, a historian who moved from Chernigov, moved in with them, having received a position in the Main Directorate of Art under the Ministry of Education of the UNR. Together with Modzalevsky - wife Natalia, Native sister his first wife, Alexandra, from whom he parted in January 1907.
“They really needed each other,” historian Alexander Ogloblin describes the friends. — The stormy, irresistible, eternally searching spirit of Narbut was looking for a quiet and devoted, deep and intelligent friendship. He made great demands on her. And it is unlikely that in all the usual surroundings of Narbut there would be another person who met these requirements more, or even in the same way, than Vadim Modzalevsky.
Both Narbut and Modzalevsky are ardent admirers of Ukrainian antiquity. They regularly go to Podil to buy rare items on the market. Narbut jokes that he cannot even drink wine if it is not poured into a bottle painted with flowers. “The apartment gradually began to acquire the features of a museum. Here at Grigory Ivanovich everything reflected the high artistic taste that nature so generously bestowed on him,” recalls member of the Academy of Arts, artist Nikolai Burachek.
“From the light blue walls of Narbut’s workshop and the gray and black dining room look dozens of old portraits from the Modzalevsky collection and a strange nature morte with a shelf of books, folk carpets, Narbut’s drawings, miniatures, and against the wall is a rare set of Karelian birch with a colossal sofa , - Fedor Ernst describes the room. “On the table there are bears made of art glass, kegs, shtofs, mugs, old Mezhygorsk dishes, “miklashon” - not a single new dish.”
Historians, art historians, publishers, writers often visit here. Narbut welcomes guests in an unusual outfit: either in a dark blue Cossack caftan with silver buttons, or in a Persian robe and fez, or in a wide blouse with many folds and yellow boots. Entertains funny and mystical stories. Once he says that he allegedly saw devils - with his own eyes, in the field.
George Narbut. Screensaver for the magazine "Mistetstvo", 1919. Ink, gouache. National Art Museum Ukraine
- Such as small children, and not that - like large birds. As soon as we drove up to the dam, they jumped one by one from their roots into the water. I saw it myself!
— How much did you drink before that? the guests ask.
Well, there was a lot to drink! But where will small children take to the field at night? ..
The Academy does not have a permanent premises - it rents one or the other house. Narbut works with his students mainly at home. “If the work satisfied the professor, he purred good-naturedly, smiled, and joked,” writes Burachek.
- But when the "works" were made poorly, "not for themselves", but "for the professor", Georgy Ivanovich blushed, snorted like a cat, and, as if under the influence of a personal insult, began to scream. And after proofreading, the students sit downcast, shrouded in a sad mood. And it happened even worse when Georgy Ivanovich looked at the “work”, blushed, put his hands behind his belt and silently walked out the door, otherwise he would also slam the door.
In winter, the children fell ill with whooping cough. Doctors advise them to be outdoors more often. Narbut takes the family near Kyiv - to the dacha of his friend, art historian Nikolai Bilyashivsky. He returns to work. He does not visit his family for several months, he does not answer letters. Vera can't stand it and goes home. “I didn’t recognize my apartment at all,” he writes.
“The Modzalevskys moved all their belongings from Chernigov. Without my knowledge, but, obviously, with the consent of Georgy Ivanovich, they furnished our entire apartment in their own way, liquidated my room and the children's. Everything said without words that Modzalevskaya Natalya Lavrentievna became the sovereign mistress.
Argument. Vera leaves the apartment forever. Gap and official divorce. In January 1919, he learns that Narbut married Natalya Modzalevskaya. Until his last days, he lives in the same apartment with his new wife and her ex-husband.
After a short period of power of the Directorate of the UNR, Kyiv was suddenly occupied by the Bolsheviks. Soon they are replaced by Denikin's men. The academy — and Narbut has already been elected its rector — is being stripped of its state status, funding, and even the word “Ukrainian” from its name. For salvation, Grigory Ivanovich turns to the Dneprosoyuz - an association of Ukrainian cooperative organizations. With donated funds, he buys two apartments in a house in Georgievsky Lane. The library, workshops, museum and office of the academy are moving here. In his living room he sets up a graphic workshop, in the other - a room for the council of professors and a reception room for the rector.
In the design of the stamp from the time of the Hetmanate of Pavel Skoropadsky, Georgy Narbut used the symbol of the Zaporizhian Army - a Cossack with a musket. National Art Museum of Ukraine
“It was a real chicken coop, in the attic of which the ceiling was covered with plywood so that during the rain the water would not gush so much,” writes Fedor Ernst. - The workshops were separated from the passage by large canvases - the works of professors. Above the high doors, which creaked loudly when opened, hung a yellow and black signboard in the familiar shapes of the Narbutian script - "Ukrainian Academy of Arts."
Artist Mikhail Boychuk in June 1919 arranges a reception in his Tatarka. “There are dishes on the terrace table - dumplings with cottage cheese, wheat porridge with potatoes and bacon, dumplings - there are no number of dumplings, and all with large pink cherries, and jugs of sour cream,” artist Georgy Lukomsky recalls that day. - It was fun. They rejoiced in everything. Forget about sadness, worries. It was getting dark.
It was restless on the streets at night: Murashko had recently been beaten. Everyone hurried home. They wanted to drink water. Not all. Only Narbut and another artist. Drinking poison: cold water from the well was full of typhoid bacilli. Both soon fell ill. Equally. And for a long time Narbut suffered from typhus. Fedor Ernst gives a different version of this moment: “During the break between two dishes, Narbut drank raw water from the bath - where thrifty Kievans kept water at that time in case it did not become available in the water supply. The result is typhoid fever.”
The disease gives a complication - relapsing fever. It is followed by inflammation of the liver and jaundice. Not enough money - almost no orders. Together with Modzalevsky, they should sell items that they bought up a year ago. But the demand for them is small - lack of money is everywhere.
In December 1919, the Bolsheviks occupied Kyiv for the third time. Narbut begging for the academy big house on the corner of Khreshchatyk and Dumskaya Square is the current Independence Square. Resigns from the post of rector. It becomes more and more difficult for him to move. Attaches a board to his bed and draws reclining. When an exhibition of professors and students of UAFM is organized in the house in Georgievsky Lane, he exhibits one of his latest works - the drawing “Fortune”. However, he does not dare to appear at the opening - he looks and feels too bad.
March 27, 1920 is the last party in Narbut's dwelling. “Watching the banquet all-night service, celebrating goodness, good at home: good luck and good health, there is a blessing in the comradeship of people of zest. Duck away the sun from the demons of the comrade's lords, they can perversely vithlumachit: supposedly a slug of some kind of ailment known from the benketnyh, ”says the invitation to the party, which Narbut and Modzalevsky compiled in a language stylized as a book from the time of the Hetmanate.
About 30 people are gathering. They drink "Spotykach Grabuzdovsky", "Nikolai's vodka", "Rector's malt" - from the owner's collection bottles. “Narbut was sitting in a solemn caftan on a wide sofa made of Karelian birch and was all beaming, all trembling with happiness,” Fedor Ernst recalls that evening. They put on a parody of the production of the Maly Theater, with the actors wringing their hands and howling in otherworldly voices. Narbut made me dress in a woman's dress and dance some wild waltz. At 3 o'clock Narbut was put to bed, but the guests did not disperse until morning.
The procession with the coffin of the artist Georgy Narbut passes by Dumskaya Square - the current Independence Square, May 25, 1920. National Art Museum of Ukraine
His health continues to deteriorate. The surgeon removes stones from the gallbladder.
- The liver is useless - at least throw it away, - he says when it's all over.
At that time, battles were going on near Kiev: the UNR army was advancing on the Bolsheviks.
His student from the academy, Robert Lisovsky, will describe his last conversation with Narbut 10 years later in his “Memoirs”: “Heavy gunfire was heard, ours were advancing, and the three of us were sitting here with his bosom friend Modzalevsky. Narbut seemed to come to life and, with full joyful hope, listened to the shots and said that he could not wait for ours.
dies. “A wonderful spring day, the sun floods the streets, green gardens and wide squares of friendly Kyiv,” Fedor Ernst describes his funeral. - The funeral procession has begun. They wanted to get gray oxen, so that they would carry, according to the old Ukrainian custom, his coffin - but they did not find it. I had to hire a dray driver, covered the cart with old Ukrainian carpets, covered the coffin with red Chinese. A military band marched ahead, academy students in bright dresses carried flowers. The whole artistic family of Kyiv - behind the coffin. His body lies on the green Baykova Mountain. Narbut was buried in his caftan.
38-year-old Vadim Modzalevsky survived his friend by less than three months - he fell ill from dysentery. He was buried at the Baikove cemetery near Narbut.
The son became a theater artist, and the daughter became a dancer
The first wife of George Narbut - Vera Kiryakova - was a member of the Commission for the preparation of the posthumous exhibition of his works in the All-Ukrainian historical museum them. Taras Shevchenko in 1926. Soon she married Bronislav Linkevich, the former secretary of the chairman of the Directorate of the UNR Volodymyr Vynnichenko. Together with him she moved to live in Russia. There, in 1962, she wrote memoirs about George Narbut. She died in 1981 in Cherkasy - her son Daniel lived there.
He became a theater artist. During the Great Terror, Daniil Narbut received three years in labor camps for "anti-Soviet activities." Participated in the Finnish-Soviet war of 1939, in the defense of Kyiv in 1941. Under independence, he received the title of People's Artist of Ukraine and the Shevchenko Prize. Died in 1998.
Daughter Marina made a career as a dancer and choreographer. She worked in theaters in Kyiv, Nizhny Novgorod, Berlin. In 1949 she moved to Australia and taught at higher art institutions. Co-founder of the Ballet Company of Western Australia. She died four years ago.
The further fate of Natalia Modzalevskaya is unknown.
Narbut designed a chair for the State Senate
“State signs performed by Narbut are our clear evidence of state maturity, our pride and glory,” writes art critic Vladimir Sochinsky. “In banknotes and stamps, Narbut, in addition to great phinesia of execution, graphic perfection and originality of content, has achieved a great creative synthesis of the Ukrainian national style, and for this reason they are very valuable to us.”
National Art Museum of Ukraine
In December 1917, the first banknote of the UNR was put into circulation - a banknote with a face value of 100 rubles. It is developed by Georgy Narbut. Here he depicts a trident - the family sign of Prince Vladimir the Great - and a crossbow - the old coat of arms of Kyiv. Ornaments are in the Ukrainian baroque style.
Narbut created 13 Ukrainian banknotes out of 24 issued in 1917-1920 under the Central Rada, the Hetmanate and the Directory. He also develops the first Ukrainian postage stamps, denominations of 30, 40 and 50 steps. The first one is blue. In the octagon, on a mesh background, there is a profile of a female head in a wreath of ears of wheat - “Ukrainized antiquity”. In the 1920s, the French magazine l'Amour de l'Art recommends using the Narbut brand as a model when making state symbols.
In April 1918, the hetman comes to power. Narbut draws sketches of new money. Develops draft uniforms for the hetman's court, government agencies and the army. And even chairs for the State Senate (pictured). In letters and invitations, diplomas of UAAM professors he uses a font designed by him, inspired by the letter of the Peresopnytsia Gospel of the 16th century.
Narbut designs the coat of arms of the Ukrainian State. He believes that its main element should be the symbol of the Zaporozhye Host - a Cossack with a musket, and the trident should be placed on top, above the shield. He is a member of the commission for the development of Ukrainian orders. He insists that they use a trident against the background of a blue and yellow ribbon in their design. When the chairman of the commission, Georgy Goncharenko, opposes and advises to focus on Russian imperial awards, he calls him a “katsap”.
Marta Gavrishko, candidate of historical sciences; illustrations: National Art Museum of Ukraine; published in a magazine KRAINA
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