Postcards of the USSR artist Zarubin. Vladimir Zarubin - Soviet postcard artist

Surely you have seen the colorful Soviet New Year cards, which, with their cuteness, leave even cat videos far behind. They were created by a wonderful Russian artist Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. Few people know how interesting the fate of this amazing person was.

Volodya was born in a small village Andriyanovka Alekseevsky village council of the Pokrovsky district Oryol region. There were three children in the family: the eldest son was drawn to technology, the middle one wrote poetry, and the youngest loved to draw from childhood. Volodya's parents had a large collection of postcards and books with reproductions of paintings. The father was a representative of the working intelligentsia, worked as an engineer at a factory and bought books with pictures, which the children loved very much. Volodya looked at the paintings of old masters for a long time, listening to the explanations of adults, and tried to draw something himself. One of his first drawings delighted the villagers so much that the picture began to be passed from hand to hand. The boy was only 5 years old, but surely one of his fellow villagers prophesied for him then the future of the artist.

The family moved to Ukraine in the city Lisichansk, where a large-scale industrial production cluster was created in the Soviet years. Life in the city promised great prospects for already grown sons, but then the war began. Nazi troops invaded the territory of the USSR. The eldest sons of Volodya went to the front to fight the aggressor, and Volodya, who was barely 16 years old, fell into the occupation. After that he was hijacked by the Germans to Germany. There he ended up in a "labor camp" at one of the factories in the city of Ruhr.

Cruelty, bullying, meager food, fear of execution - this is how the childhood of the future artist ended. For several years Volodya was in labor slavery in a foreign country. In 1945, he, along with other captives, was released by American troops. Immediately after his release, Vladimir wanted to return home and, having moved to the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, he went to serve in the Soviet army. From 1945 to 1949 he served as a shooter in the commandant's office. After demobilization, he moved to permanent residence in Moscow, got a job as an artist at one of the factories. Here begins the story of his success and future national glory.

Once, while reading a magazine, he saw an advertisement for recruitment for animation courses at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio. Vladimir had a burning desire to master this profession and went to study. From 1957 to 1982 he worked as an animator at Soyuzmultfilm. From his pen came the images of the heroes of about 100 cartoons, among which are his favorites: “Just you wait”, “Mowgli”, “In the footsteps of the Bremen Town Musicians”, “The Secret of the Third Planet” and many others.

In parallel, the artist began to try his hand at postal miniatures. In 1962, his first postcard was issued with the symbol of that time - a cheerful astronaut.



Subsequently, Vladimir Ivanovich illustrated many books, but postcards remained his main love. In Soviet times, dozens of them were brought to every house - the tradition of congratulating relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, former neighbors by mail was established and loved.

Pretty quickly, Zarubin's postcards became the most popular in the country. They were asked at the post office, queues lined up behind them in stores, and the kids, of course, collected these postcards and wrote letters to the artist. Surprisingly, he found time to answer. The kindest artist in the country was also a very kind person. When Vladimir Ivanovich was asked what was the main thing in his work, he invariably answered: “Maybe my postcards will help people become a little kinder.”

Their total circulation, together with envelopes and telegrams, amounted to 1,588,270,000 copies. In the late 1970s he was admitted to the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR.

This is truly a wonderful artist from God, the warmth of his heart was reflected in his work. And now people are touched by the simple beauty of his works, postcards by Vladimir Zarubin are valued among collectors. But most importantly, his postcards really give people joy. It is worth looking at a perky cheerful squirrel or a hare that looks out from under the Christmas tree with a gift, as a person feels a surge of New Year's mood.

I would like to give all the readers of my blog a New Year's mood. And, it seems to me that there is nothing better than eating a tangerine and looking at the paintings created by such a talented and kind person. With coming!

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Probably, every person born in the USSR has special memories imbued with the warmth of New Year's anticipation. My conscious childhood passed already in the 90s, but there were many signs of a bygone era associated with the most important and most desired holiday of the year. Now the store shelves are bursting with an abundance of New Year's toys, postcards and other paraphernalia, certainly attractive, but not as sincere as what adorned our New Year's childhood.

In the parental home, among the glass toys brought by the granny from the GDR, a box with New Year's greeting cards from past years is still kept. My sister and I were very fond of sorting through and examining them on the eve of the holiday: there was something magical in this. And later, in my school years, as a representative of the editorial board, I often used the treasured box in search of inspiration, releasing another New Year's wall newspaper.

The box, I must say, is impressive, and most of it is occupied by my favorite greeting cards created by Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. It is impossible not to recognize them: bright, kind and light, depicting small scenes with carefully traced details. The heroes of his postcards are touching, as if alive, with their own character, with a mood corresponding to the plot. And how can you not smile, picking up a card slightly yellowed from time ... Nostalgia ...

The creator of these postcards - Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin - had a very difficult fate. How, after a youth filled with grief and loss, he managed to maintain a bright attitude and share it with his compatriots throughout his life, it is simply amazing ...

Vladimir Zarubin was born on August 7, 1925 in the village of Andriyanovka, Orel Region. During the war years, Zarubin lived with his parents in Ukrainian Lisichansk. After the capture of the city by the Germans, a young boy was driven to Germany and worked in a labor camp of prisoners in the Ruhr, where he had to experience a lot: cruelty, bullying, hunger, fear of death ... A few years later, the city was liberated by American troops, and Vladimir Zarubin moved to our zone of occupation, where he served in the army for several years. It is known that he was fond of boxing and shooting. And, of course, even then he began to draw in earnest. Here is from his memoirs: “Since childhood, I have been very fond of animals and birds. And now there is a feeder with lard on the balcony. In the morning a woodpecker flew in... As far as I remember, my first drawing in my life is connected with animals and with... a smile: a horse is running, and “apples” are falling from under its tail. I was five years old then, so this drawing passed from hand to hand throughout the village. In the same place, in a rural house, he first joined the art. My father brought a lot of books on painting, had a good (and by the standards of the countryside - just wonderful) - five thousand copies - collection of postcards.

In 1949, Vladimir Ivanovich began his career as an artist: he worked at the Ministry of the Coal Industry, then at a factory. In 1956, he entered the Moscow Evening High School, in parallel with his studies, taking courses in animators at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio. Since 1957, Zarubin worked as an animator at Soyuzmultfilm, taking part in the creation of about a hundred animated films.

The artist gave all his strength to his beloved work. In 1973, he received the title of the winner of the socialist competition at the studio and the first heart attack. The fact is, the work of the Soviet animator was only one side of the art, and on the other hand it was equated to the same production with a plan, invoices, outfits, and so on. In addition, his enthusiasm, honesty and openness often ran into traditional intrigues and blasphemy. Only in the late 1970s, Zarubin was admitted to the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR, but he was often called the best animator in the country.

In parallel with animation, Vladimir Zarubin talentedly and fruitfully worked in the genre of postal miniatures - he was engaged in the creation of greeting cards, drawings on envelopes and calendars. His first postcard was issued in 1962.

Zarubin himself believed that he started creating postcards and envelopes relatively late: “ You know, I wanted to find an outlet, because the work of an animator is exhausting, nervous. So I tried my hand at first in "Crocodile", "Kid", "Izogiz". The first postcard was edited by Yuri Ryakhovsky. He helped me find myself in the mail schedule. And the little animals - bear cubs, hares, hedgehogs, as well as gnomes and other heroes - are mine, only mine.

They are really recognizable, have their own unique face. Just because of this originality of theirs, I had difficulties at artistic councils. Well, it's still in "those" times. They used to look at a sketch and begin to disassemble it from socialist realist positions: “Where did you see a dog walking on two legs?”, Or: “What kind of bear would shout “Ay!” in the forest?” How can you explain? Or here is a story with a spring postcard, in which the Hedgehog presents the Hedgehog with a candy rooster. I had him in boots, so the artistic council forced the Hedgehog to take off his shoes. I redid the postcard, but I felt sorry for the Hedgehog - is it easy to be barefoot in the March snow? So I raised one paw to him, so as not to freeze ...

In previous years, many of my postcards and envelopes, as they say, were fluffed up for nothing at the artistic council».

Many years later, Zarubin left the studio and started working at home.

« It's nice, of course, that people do not disregard my work.- said Vladimir Ivanovich. - They write, ask to draw more, and the most active suggest plots. It helps, but only morally. It's hard for me to work on orders. I invent everything myself. And drawing is always drawn. Even if I get sick, I just lie down and think. At first I “run in” a postcard or an envelope in my head so that then everything passes to paper very quickly. But then I redraw the plots sometimes several times: I finish it as if, I take a closer look - no, not quite that. I undertake again to add, remove the details of the picture. A little fairy tale in a picture...»

In the early 1990s, the artist began to work constantly with a small publishing house. Over time, it grew, mainly due to the work of Zarubin, but soon the publisher began to delay payment, and then stopped paying altogether, demanding new postcards. This went on for over a year. On June 21, 1996, Vladimir Ivanovich was informed by telephone that "the company had gone bankrupt." A few hours later the artist was gone.

Zarubin Vladimir Ivanovich(1925-1996). Russian Soviet artist. Born in the Oryol region. There were three children in the family: the eldest son was drawn to technology, the middle one wrote poetry, and the youngest Volodya loved to draw from childhood. Perhaps this was facilitated by a large collection of postcards and books with reproductions of paintings that his father, a traveling engineer, brought to the house. Volodya looked at the paintings of old masters for a long time, listening to the explanations of adults, and tried to draw something himself. One of his first drawings delighted the villagers so much that the picture began to be passed from hand to hand. The boy was only 5 years old, but surely one of his fellow villagers prophesied for him then the future of the artist.

During the Great Patriotic War, the elder brothers went to the front, and Volodya, who was not even 17 years old, was driven to Germany. There he worked in a "labor camp", in one of the factories in the Ruhr. Cruelty, bullying, meager food, fear of execution - this is how the childhood of the future artist ended.

In 1945, Vladimir was released, but remained in the Soviet occupation zone, where he served in the army for several years. After demobilization, he got a job as an artist at one of the Moscow factories. Somehow, he came across an announcement about recruitment for animation courses at the Soyuzmultfilm film studio. Vladimir Ivanovich decided to try and went to study. Subsequently, images of characters from about 100 cartoons came out from under his pen, among which are his favorites: “Just you wait”, “Mowgli”, “In the footsteps of the Bremen Town Musicians”, “The Secret of the Third Planet” and many others.

In parallel, the artist began to try his hand at postal miniatures. In 1962, his first postcard was issued with the symbol of that time - a cheerful astronaut. Subsequently, Vladimir Ivanovich illustrated many books, but postcards remained his main love. In Soviet times, dozens of them were brought to every house - the tradition of congratulating relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, former neighbors by mail was established and loved. Pretty quickly, Zarubin's postcards became the most popular in the country. They were asked at the post office, queues lined up behind them in stores, and the kids, of course, collected these postcards and wrote letters to the artist. Surprisingly, he found time to answer. The kindest artist in the country was also a very kind person. When Vladimir Ivanovich was asked what was the main thing in his work, he invariably answered: “ Maybe my postcards will help people become a little kinder.».

Their total circulation, together with envelopes and telegrams, amounted to 1,588,270,000 copies. Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin painted them until the last day of his life, June 21, 1996.

The artist is gone, but his works continue to live, in them we still feel his warmth, sly look and kind smile. Taking these postcards in your hands, you will also smile, which means that there will be a little more light and joy in this world. With a smile!