Why the artist, on whose postcards a whole generation grew up, was left without work: Vladimir Zarubin

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Lovely hares, bears and hedgehogs have become an integral part of Soviet holidays. They were painted on the windows on New Year's Eve (and even they still do it), diligently copied, decorating wall newspapers or posters. The author of the whole world of funny animals was Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. For 30 years of work, more than 1.5 billion postcards and envelopes with his drawings were published, but the artist died practically in poverty.

In 1925, in a small village in the Oryol region, a third son was born to the Zarubins' family. The boy grew up very gifted, and his parents, to the best of their ability, encouraged his passion for drawing. For example, his father prompted Volodya to start collecting his own collection of postcards. In those years, it was a real joy to receive a beautiful picture with a small letter from relatives by mail. It was this happiness associated with the postman and the news from distant friends that the artist managed to retain in his memory and then embody in his own drawings. Little Vova's collection, by the way, is very solid - about five thousand multi-colored cards. Not every boy had this!

During the war, the family was scattered around the world. The older sons went to the front, and the younger one fell into the occupation and was sent to Germany along with other fellow villagers. He worked at a factory, was nearly shot several times, but survived and managed to return home safely after the victory. True, he did not stay in his native village. The young man was taken into the army, and then he settled in Moscow, went to work at a factory, studied at an evening school. Together with a huge army of children who survived the terrible years, Vladimir Zarubin managed to catch up and get what the war took from him - part of his life, high school, student years. He managed to enroll in animation courses, and for many years then the talented artist worked at the Soyuzmultfilm studio. Looking at his postcards, few people guessed that the same artist was the author of images from hundreds of favorite Soviet cartoons: "Mowgli", "Well, wait a minute!" "Mystery of the third planet", "Once upon a time there was a dog" and many others.

He began drawing postcards in 1962. The era of socialist realism was very strict to any kind of creativity, and even more so to the one that “went to the masses”, so every new picture had to be approved by the artistic council. The first samples of hedgehogs and bunnies baffled the members of the commission: what is this - a new word in Soviet art or an example of capitalist decadence? Many ideas had to be abandoned, but the artist continued to paint in his own style, and soon millions of ordinary people voted for him, choosing not daring pioneers on the shelves of kiosks boldly walking under the banners into a bright future, but bears on sleds, snowmen decorating a Christmas tree, and bunnies with flowers, hurrying to wish someone a happy birthday in the fairy forest. So postcards of Vladimir Zarubin became an integral part of Soviet life. Few people knew the name of the artist, but everyone tried to redraw his cute animals.

For an artist who draws postcards, Vladimir Zarubin was quite famous. He soon had fans who wrote to the master. Contemporaries recall that he always answered these letters. The character of this man was probably at first glance visible in his works: sincere, open, very kind - this is exactly what he was in life, so fans of his work, receiving letters full of warmth in response, were not disappointed in their idol.

Unfortunately, perestroika unsettled the artist. In the 90s, he was already in his seventh decade, and at this age it is very difficult to adapt to the world that is crumbling before our eyes. Postcards were catastrophically losing their relevance, it seemed that postage in general would soon sink into oblivion, so the artist had to change the specifics of his work. To survive, he was forced to run around small publishing houses, trying to get at least some money for his work, but it turned out worse and worse. However, he did not stop working, until the last days such cute and familiar animals came out from under his brush, which suddenly ceased to be needed. However, human strength is not unlimited. After another phone call from a bankrupt publishing house, having received the news that he would not receive money for his work in recent weeks, Vladimir Zarubin fell ill with a severe heart attack. He died of a heart attack, and the son who was next to him could not help his 70-year-old father, and the ambulance, unfortunately, was late.

Despite the fact that in the period from the 60s to the 90s a huge amount was issued - more than 1.5 billion postcards with drawings by Vladimir Zarubin, today they are valued by collectors. Some are considered rarities and are very expensive. There is even an independent direction in the philokarty - collecting postcards by Vladimir Zarubin.

By the way, if you look well, then surely everyone born in the USSR will find somewhere in a pile of old postcards or in an album a sample of the work of this wonderful artist. His work is so recognizable that no signature is required.

And today they attract the attention of connoisseurs of the genre and ordinary lovers of beauty 26 charming watercolor cards by Russian artist Elizaveta Boehm.