In 1920, after the military events during the First World War, the artist Vadim Lazarkevich immigrated to Bulgaria. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts under professors Nikolai Samoshin and Pavel Chistyakov, he was the bearer of a different type of drawing, aesthetics and treatment of the image, atypical and misunderstood by Bulgarian artists. In the 1920s, criticism was very harsh towards the artist's works, thinking and origin, but he turned out to be the missing alloy between the visual market success of the publishing houses and the lyrical, sweet, childish search of the Bulgarian reader, which was absent from Bulgarian artists. His colleagues did not accept him as worthy of the native art, but the artist's personal friendships with many of the authors and publishers active in the period ensured him incredible success and numerous orders for children's books, textbooks and teaching aids. The images of his characters became household names not only because of the literary narrative, but also because of the qualities that his drawing brings. The illustrations that the young artist (then 25 years old) creates are full of energy and subtle humor and appeal not only to children, but also to their parents. Already in the 1920s, Lazarkevich made illustrations for works by H. K. Andersen and R. Kipling. Upon entering the publishing world, he met Dora Gabe and Ran Bosilek and began to create for Bulgarian authors. Thus, he built the images of forest heroes, saturated with traditional characteristics: Kuma Lisa, Zayu Bayu, Kose Bose. In 1925, he created the images of little Patilancho for R. Bosilek's book "The Kingdom of Patilan". The refined line of the ink and the pen in the artist's hand gives life to the characters and recreates the comic situations in one breath. V. Lazarkevich's work is extremely rich and diverse in the period before the Second World War.
Some of his most famous illustrations are from Ran Bosilek's book of poems "Sinchets", which was published in 1930. The colorful illustrations in the book reveal the true creativity of the Russian artist, and the only thing that hindered their overall impact were the limitations of the press in the pre-war years. The illustrations and books from the beginning of his artistic journey failed to reach young readers after the 1940s. But his creative presence did not subside and the illustrator managed to create some of his most iconic characters, many of whom remained on the market even after 1989, and the books are still printed to this day with their original illustrations. The same applies to a few Bulgarian illustrators and some foreign artists who found their way to the domestic market during the People's Republic. In the later years of their work, many artists recognized Lazarkevich's qualities and took the liberty of admitting that they liked his characters, illustrations, and interpretation of the text. Some of them even shared that they were truly inspired and influenced by his work, but never after that in Bulgaria do we find the direct influence of the Russian artist in the illustrations of other authors.
Iliya Beshkov writes about V. Lazarkevich: “If someone undertakes to trace the historical development of children's illustration in our country, they will see that its beginnings are laid by the Russian Lazarkevich…” – quote from Lazarova, E. Izkustvovedski cheteniya. S., 2010, pp. 76 – 86;
Lyuben Zidarov in his biographical film says “I was strongly influenced by Lazarkevich’s illustrations…” – quote from the film “The Magic Mirror of Lyuben Zidarov”.
Today, generations of already grown-up children probably remember the artist with his illustrations for “The Honeycomb” and “The Working Mezzana”, along with the unforgettable rhymes of Batko Zlatko and Leda Mileva.
You can read more about Bulgarian artists who worked in the years before 1989 in the book "Bulgarian Art Illustration 1944-1989", which you can order from the website of the Bulgarian Illustration publishing house - here.
Text: Milena Radeva
Photos: Milena Radeva - personal archive
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