Friday 6 November 2020

Boris Artzybasheff - part 3

Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965) fought with anti-communist White Russians before emigrating to America (he spoke no English and arrived with 14 cents). A chameleon, able to adapt different styles, from children's books to portraits. Renowned for his ability to turn machines into living beings (and living beings into who-knows-what). Advisor to the Psychological Warfare branch during WW II. A profuse illustrator for mainstream magazines: Life, Fortune, and Time (producing over two hundred covers for the latter). He illustrated fifty books, including those he wrote himself, notably "As I See." He did many illustrations for advertising; for Xerox, Shell Oil, Pan Am, Casco Power Tools, Alcoa Steamship lines, Parke Davis, Avco Manufacturing, Scotch Tape, Wickwire Spencer Steele, Vultee Aircraft, World Airways, and Parker Pens. Mechanics Illustrated profiled him with a cover story in 1954, "When Machines Come to Life."

For more information on Artzybasheff see part 1. For earlier works see parts 1 & 2 also. This is part 3 of a 12-part series on the works of Boris Artzybasheff:

1928 Gay Neck, the Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji:





1929 The Golden Book Magazine:

1929 The Golden Book Magazine
March isssue

1929  The Golden Book Magazine
July issue

1929  The Golden Book Magazine 
August issue

1929  The Golden Book Magazine 
September issue

1929  The Golden Book Magazine 
October issue

1929  The Golden Book Magazine 
November issue

1930  The Golden Book Magazine 
January issue

1929 Three and the Moon; Legendary Stories of Old Brittany, Normandy & Provence by Jacques Dorey:

Front Cover (dust wrapper)

Hard Cover

Black Knight, Brandishing a Spear, on His Black Horse
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Figure Falling into a Pit of Red Creatures
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Four Knights Jousting
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Knight Approaching the Sphinx
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Knight in Blue and Red, Brandishing a Sword, on a Black Horse
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Three Male Knights Surprising the Sleeping Female Knight
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Three-Headed Fire-Breathing Green Creature
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

Winged, Clawed, Bearded, and Muscled Figure
Harvard Art Museums-Fogg Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College

1930 Orpheus; Myths of the World by Padraic Colum. Twenty engravings by Boris Artzybasheff published by Macmillan Co., New York:

Front Cover

Title Page










1933 Aesops Fables with wood-engravings by Boris Artzybasheff The Viking Press, New York:

Dust Cover

Hard Cover

End Paper


The Ass and the Horse

The Wind and the Sun

Sour Grapes

The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts

The Goose that laid the Golden Egg

The Peacock and the Crane

The Dog who was invited to Dinner

The Peacock and the Crane

The Stag looking into Water

The Tiger and the Bulls

The Wind and the Sun