Illustration for the poem "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" by Alexander Pushkin 1908

Ivan Bilibin created this illustration for Alexander Pushkin’s poem "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" in 1908. Look at the colors, the lines, the way the image is composed, with its mix of decorative patterning and figurative elements. I can only imagine Bilibin making this, moving between detailed observation and pure invention, working with ink and paint to bring Pushkin’s fairy tale to life. What kind of mindset does this take? I like the tension between the flat, graphic quality of the illustration and the depth suggested by the landscape. And the carefully drawn lines, describing the fisherman’s coat and the scales of the fish, remind me of the traditions of folk art. There is something so evocative in the way Bilibin uses color and pattern to create mood. It reminds me of other illustrators, like Aubrey Beardsley, or some of the Vienna Secession artists, who were also working with line and pattern to create highly stylized and symbolic imagery. For me, art is always about this exchange, a dialogue between artists across time, each one adding their own voice to the conversation.