Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin, 1876-1942 1876-1942 THE GOLDEN FISH signed with artist's initials in Cyrillic and in full in Latin l.l. and dated 1933; further inscribed in Latin on reverse: Ivan Bilibine / 15, rue Boissonade / Paris XIV / conte du vieux pêcheur et du petit poisson watercolour with pen and ink on paper image size: 22.5 by 19cm., 9 by 7¾in.

Ivan Bilibin played an exceptional role in establishing book illustrations as an independent art form at the turn of the twentieth century. His work for children's books, journals and magazines is particularly well known. For Bilibin, the page was an expressive entity that was a composite of the text and its presentation. He considered illustration integral to the artistic value of a book. Bilibin was thus one of the first artists in Russia to view illustrating as an art form.

The artist's style is inspired by Old Russia, its folk art and fairy tales. The combination of Romantic Nationalism and modern design makes his illustrations unique. His style matured during several expeditions to Northern Russia between 1902 and 1904, during which he gathered and photographed folk art, handicraft items and traditional wooden buildings.

In 1929, Ivan Bilibin moved to Paris, and his costume and stage designs, and fairy tale illustrations were the heyday of his career in emigration. Due to their high quality and his apolitical interpretation of a magical Russian world, Ivan Bilibin's illustrations remained popular throughout Russian history.

The offered work is a colour illustration from The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish by Alexander Pushkin, published by Flammarion in Paris as one of a series of fairy tales.