| All I know about Kochergin: something in his fairytale illustrations appeals to me. I came across this illustration yesterday. It is a cropped image from a postcard that someone sold awhile back on Etsy. I find this illustration humorous. Yes, that fox looks like he's in trouble (yes, I'm quite certain that foolish fox is a he), equally, I'm quite sure that he's going to come out of the situation scathed, but perhaps wiser. I can't find out anything else online about the Fairy Tale (or, the thing I'd really like to see, an uncropped verstion of this illustration). |  Russian Folk Tale "The Fox and The Eagle" - N. Kochergin, 1963 |
I got intrigued. The limits of the internet fascinate me. And the more I looked for Kochergin images, the more I realized how familiar I was with his imagery. To some extent, he has the corner on classic Russian fairytale imagery. He owes a debt to Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942)--one of those innocent, tremendous "Golden Age of Illustration" artists who got caught up in weird Central European Nationalism (much to the detriment of their illustrations, I'd put Alphonse Mucha in this category also). But from what I can tell, Kochergin is a creature of a different generation.
I say "from what I can tell," because the internet isn't telling me anything about these next pieces, except that they are all images created by artists named, variously, "N. Kochergin," "Nikolai Kochergin," and "Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin," all of whom appear to have lived 1897-1974. I am pretty sure that these are all the same person. But--this is just from the internet, so maybe not. In any case, Kochergin's images:
I say "from what I can tell," because the internet isn't telling me anything about these next pieces, except that they are all images created by artists named, variously, "N. Kochergin," "Nikolai Kochergin," and "Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin," all of whom appear to have lived 1897-1974. I am pretty sure that these are all the same person. But--this is just from the internet, so maybe not. In any case, Kochergin's images:
 | A 1920 ANTI CAPITALIST PROPAGANDA POSTER BY NIKOLAI KOCHERGIN (RUSSIAN 1897-1974) EGE KAPITALISTU GORE, ZAGONIM EVO V CHERNOE MORE [Aha Sorrow to the Capitalist, We Will Drive Him Into the Black Sea], color lithograph, 1920, initialed in plate, 70 x 105.5 cm (27 1/2 x 41 1/2 in.) |
| SOVIET WWII PROPAGANDA POSTCARD, PUBLISHED IN LENINGRAD DURING THE BLOCKADE. ARTIST N. KOCHERGIN |  |
And then come these (POSTCARDS: 1960s. N. KOCHERGIN). Okay, I can see the Social Realism influence here, but there's a step (in history) that I'm feeling gets glossed over:
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What was the progression from the young man who created the top image to the old(er) man who created these last images? I don't know if it would make a book. But it's something I'd like to know something more about.
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