Studio: international art (83.1922)

RUSSIAN WOOD ENGRAVERS

"ON THE CAUCASUS
FRONT.” WOODCUT BY
PETER GAMBAROFF

SOME RUSSIAN WOOD EN-
GRAVERS. BY P. ETTINGER

AQUELQUE chose malheur est
bon ** says a striking French pro-
verb, which is often quite justified by the
couise of events. To the extreme misery
which has befallen Russian typographic
art of late after a period of brilliant de-
velopment, together with the great lack
of zinc and the enormous cost of process
blocks, is due an unexpected revival—or
rather amplification—of wood engraving
in Russia, and especially in Moscow. Wood
and linoleum cuts have been extensively
employed instead of metal blocks in line
or half-tone for all sorts of work—book-
covers, illustrations, the posters so pro-
fusely used by the Government and its
Committees, and also for sets of views of

Moscow and its environs recently pub-
lished in portfolios, including a large one
with many prints presented recently to
members of the Third “ Comintern ”
Congress. Most of these prints are not
of high artistic value, but happily some
really gifted artists have been led to practise
the art with more assiduity than formerly.

Prominent among them is Vladimir
Favorski, who on one side is of English
descent, his maternal ancestors being the
Sherwoods who settled in Russia some
generations back. Favorski worked for
a time under Konstantin Yuon and after-
wards in Munich, where he first took up
wood engraving, though painting was his
principal medium until the wood-block
through force of circumstances claimed
his almost exclusive attention. He has
proved himself a genuine master of
original style and individual faculty. All
along he has worked as a true wood-
cutter, concerned only with the strong,
telling line and vigorous contrasts of

VIGNETTE FOR A MUSIC SCHOOL
PROSPECTUS. WOODCUT BY
V. FAVORSKI.

INITIAL LETTERS FOR A BOOK BY
ANATOLE FRANCE. FROM WOODCUTS
BY V. FAVORSKI

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