Illustration for the Russian Fairy Story "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka" 1901

Ivan Bilibin made this illustration for the Russian fairy story "Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka", and he worked with detailed lines and a muted palette. I can picture him hunched over his drawing board, maybe with a cigarette burning in the ashtray, totally absorbed in rendering this dream-like vision of the Russian countryside. The landscape feels pulled from both memory and imagination. There’s a road winding through the hills, leading to a cluster of buildings and a small church with a windmill nearby. You know, it makes me think about how we construct these idealized versions of our homelands, these images that stick with us no matter where we go. Bilibin frames the scene with these decorative borders, almost like he’s setting the stage for the story, telling us this isn't just a landscape but also a journey into another world. I wonder if he saw himself as a storyteller, using his art to keep these old tales alive. Artists are always in conversation with each other, borrowing, responding, and reinterpreting.