Illustration for the poem 'The Tale of the Golden Cockerel' by Alexander Pushkin 1906

Ivan Bilibin made this illustration for Alexander Pushkin’s poem ‘The Tale of the Golden Cockerel’ sometime in 1906. It's amazing how Bilibin uses line here - not to just define shapes, but to build textures, like the tent and the king's robe. The color palette is muted, almost faded, giving it this old-world, storybook feel. Look at the ground, it's like the artist is showing us a stage, and the figures are actors caught in a dramatic scene. The details are incredible, from the slain soldiers to the pattern on the tent, it’s all so deliberate. The Queen standing in the tent is so intriguing, what’s her role in this story? It reminds me a little of Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations, that same focus on decorative detail and narrative storytelling. Art, like stories, keeps getting told in new ways, each artist adding their own spin. It’s a conversation that never ends.