The picturebooks of the 1920s and 1930s in Russia became a multi-layered polyphony of art forms-adult and child, female and male, drawing and writing-as the participation of avant-garde artists in publication. The Oberiu poets had no choice but to par...
The picturebooks of the 1920s and 1930s in Russia became a multi-layered polyphony of art forms-adult and child, female and male, drawing and writing-as the participation of avant-garde artists in publication. The Oberiu poets had no choice but to participate in children’s literature to make a living under the surveillance of Soviet government. Ermolaeva, a central figure in the avant-garde art of the 1920s and 1930s in Russia, had corroborated with the Oberiu poets for making the outstanding picturebooks artistically recognized today. She was a member of the Youth League including Malevich, Matyushin, Filonov, Tatlin and promoted Suprematism with Malevich.
Vera Ermolaeva had drawed an illustration in Vvedensky’s The Fishermen and Zabolotsky’s The Good Boots. These outstanding picturebooks were written and illustrated by a author and a illustrator with the equal contribution. In other words, the reader has a narrative that can be completed with the combination of the words and the illustration. Ermolaeva reflects the artistic style of her time in The Fishermen and The Good Boots. The combination of the illustrated narrative by Ermolaeva and the written narrative of Vvedensky and Zabolotsky could create new narrative meaningful to the reader. Also, these books are the showcase of the avant-garde experiments and ideas ahead of their time by both poets and artists.