Having acquired a printing house on occasion, he retired and gave himself up to a new hobby for him. N. S. Chaga had a very great influence on the artist, in his workshop D. I. Mitrokhin, in his early childhood, got acquainted with printing art, which resulted in a passion for books and reading, which subsequently naturally affected his great erudition. The ability to easily enter into communication, without tension to maintain a conversation on almost any topic, easily entering the very demanding cultural society of the two capitals, Dmitry Mitrokhin owes, of course, to Naum Chaga, his workshop, the availability of diverse literature - this very contagious passion for his printing in all its manifestations, finally.

At MUZhVZ, D. I. Mitrokhin’s teachers were A. M. Vasnetsov (“landscape class”) and A. S. Stepanov (drawing animals), whose classes, according to him, - along with drawing and watercolor - in the School library , attracted him more than studying in the classroom. But he "had for himself to become a graphic department: after all, there were no such departments in Russia, no" departments of the book "". The artist gratefully recalls the curator of the Rumyantsev Museum, S. P. Shchurov, “taciturn and gloomy, but willingly opening folders with engravings by old Italian and German artists.” A lot and constantly works from nature.

With the transfer of D. I. Mitrokhin to the Stroganov School, he began to study under the guidance of S. I. Yaguzhinsky (watercolor) and S. V. Noakovsky (drawing). Acquaintance with V. D. Zamirailo finally inclines him to the need to choose the path of the graph.

Creation

D. I. Mitrokhin. In old Petersburg. 1910. Watercolor

Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin, who lived a long creative life, had the good fortune to study, collaborate, be in close relationships, be in associations and societies with many artists, among whom were those whose mark on the art of the 20th century is comparable to the influence on the course of history of the most important discoveries of the era . In the first lines of the artist's autobiographical notes, there are the names of M. F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova and A. V. Fonvizin, who studied side by side and were friends with him - S. T. Konenkov and S. V. Malyutin, with whom he worked in the Murava ceramic artel.

In Paris, Dmitry Mitrokhin, despite the cramped circumstances and constant employment (“social life was not for me”), communicates quite a lot. Almost seventy years later, he recalled his visits to the salon of E. Kruglikova, which, like her Parisian workshop, turned into a kind of Russian cultural center, where the "high society" gathered, "but for all those present, art was the main thing," - about visits to Maximilian Voloshin, in whose house, according to the artist, he felt “more at ease”, where many compatriots who flaunted along Lutetia also dropped in, and where once he happened to meet with Konstantin Balmont (they were briefly acquainted with 1904), “who brought his daughter, a girl, in a red coat” - here she is the memory of a 90-year-old artist! And these memories are filled with living content, visible images of sketches, when he talks about the immediate purpose of his stay in the then capital of the arts.

D. Mitrokhin. Alice Bruschetti. 1909. Ink

Talking about his Parisian times, not by chance, and not without a hint of pride, he notes that posters of Toulouse-Lautrec still hung on the streets of the French capital, - according to D. I. Mitrokhin himself, who had a strong influence on him, - as well as , and on Paul Klee, with whose influence the first for some time was fancifully combined in the line of the artist’s work, which he was aware of, as well as the impact, at certain stages, of his great interest in the art of Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne, Constantin Gis.

In different periods of comprehension of the paths of expressiveness and mastery, this interest was focused on their different manifestations, and with a different measure of their impact on the artist's worldview, sometimes ephemeral and almost opportunistic, and therefore easily and painlessly overcome, which were, for example, salon, beardsley, modern trends - that required a longer "neutralization", purely decorative, stylized ornamental, popular print and heel motifs; or, on the contrary, in the form of a deep, essential understanding, which was realized in the artist’s system of views, - Western European and Japanese engraving, - on fundamental principles that were not limited to understanding technology - engraving in general, drypoint, chiaroscuro, lithography, in particular. “But, having gone through these hobbies,” squeaks M. V. Alpatov, “he returned to such values ​​of art that outgrow the boundaries of time and space and exist everywhere.”

It is significant that in the very first words about the beginning of his apprenticeship, the artist recalls the library of the school, “about the huge and exciting happiness”, which “gave a collection of engravings of the Rumyantsev Museum” .

To no lesser extent, in any case, the mastery of the means of self-expression in terms of technical than contact with the product of printing - a book (in terms of intellectual development - knowledge of graphics), was affected by the artist's acquaintance with the printing process, including manual, which he I knew it thoroughly from my grandfather's workshop from childhood - “Compositors were my friends. The words layout, veneer, space, letter, size, cliche, proofreading are familiar from childhood.

book graphics

Dmitry Mitrokhin owes his first experiments in book graphics to the Stroganov watercolor teacher S. I. Yaguzhinsky, who in 1904 offered him a “small job for publishing houses”, and who appreciated it - Valery Bryusov, at that time - the editor-in-chief of Scorpion. Upon his return in 1908 from Paris, where his acquaintance with S. P. Yaremich gave him a lot, who, in turn, introduced the artist to E. S. Kruglikova, who had lived in France for many years, with the famous Polish sculptor Eduard Wittig, in the studio whom Dmitry Mitrokhin lived in difficult days, he moves to St. Petersburg, and already begins systematic work as a book illustrator, which quickly brings him fame, and which was facilitated by his acquaintance with the artists of the World of Art. At the initial stage, the successful development of the work of D. I. Mitrokhin as an artist of a book, a magazine illustrator, of course, was also affected by the assistance of E. E. Lansere, who sent publishers to him (“I drew models with him. He invited them to his painting in the hall library of the Academy of Arts ... The first years of my life in St. Petersburg were very brightened up by the attention of Evgeny Evgenievich Lansere. "- D. Mitrokhin. Autobiographical notes (1973)). At the same time, he began to engrave on linoleum (with V. D. Falileev), “He engraved color compositions, printed not with oil paints, but with watercolors - in the Japanese way.” Collaborates with many book publishers: “I. N. Knebel”, “Golike and Vilborg”, “Enlightenment”, “Pechatnik”, “M. and S. Sabashnikovs” (for them, D. I. Mitrokhin developed a publishing brand), “Apollo”, “M. V. Popov "and many others. etc. Continues to study collections of engravings in the library of the Academy of Arts and the Hermitage. He works a lot on illustrations of children's books, on magazine screensavers, half-titles, fly-leaves, etc. Rare in beauty and sonorous expressiveness, chased performance - E. Zamyatin's "County" (1916; M. V. Popov's publishing house), "Russian fairy tales of grandfather Peter" by Arthur Ransome (1916; London and Edinburgh) and many others. others

An extremely important fact, which speaks most of all about what Dmitry Mitrokhin is like as an artist of a book, while it was, albeit a big, but far from the main stage in his work - always working on the design of a particular publication, for all variety of graphic techniques to which the artist turned, he was guided by a single principle for all elements of the book - starting with the cover, endpapers and ending with font, decor - they are all subject to stylistic commonality.

• - illustrates children's books published by I. Knebel (up to).
• - works on the covers of the series for the publishing house of M. and S. Sabashnikovs.
• - cooperation in the magazines "Satyricon" (until 1914) and "New Satyricon" (until 1914); - cover of the "Cup" by V. A. Zhukovsky (publishing house of I. N. Knebel, Moscow); - in March, at the invitation of the Dresden society "Kunstverein" participates with G. Yakulov in an exhibition of watercolors.
• 1914 - decorative borders of the magazine "Lukomorye" (until 1917).
• - - made a lot of book covers.
• - admitted to the "World of Art"; - performs graphic design of Arthur Ransome's book "Russian Tales of Grandfather Peter" (A. Ransome "Old Peter's Russian Tales" - London); - At the end of the year, he began to work in the department of engravings and drawings of the Russian Museum (subsequent works for printing - in the list).
• 1917 - mobilization into the army with secondment to the "Trophy Commission"; - in September, due to the death of his father, he goes to Yeysk, where he will stay until the end of next year - "he devoted a lot of time to writing from nature, worked a lot with lead pencil and watercolor, painted landscapes, interiors, still lifes and portraits."

In Soviet times, the artist successfully developed this work that absorbed him and performed it with love, enthusiastically and very successfully combining it with engraving, etching, and lithography. He designed and illustrated a huge number of books and magazines in various publishing houses - "Lights", "Petropolis", "Petrograd", "Thought". "Surf" and more. others, in the best of them - Academia (with which he collaborated for about six years): "Seven Love Portraits" by A. de Regnier (1920, 1921; Petrograd), a fairy tale poem by Marina Tsvetaeva "The Tsar Maiden" (1922); - made in a manner that has already become traditional for the artist, fervent pen drawings for the design of Edgar Poe's "Golden Bug" (1922), Ben Jonson's "Epsin" (1920, 1921; "Petropolis"), - illustrations by Victor Hugo (1923), Henri Barbusse, Octave Mirbo, "Comedy Books" by Aristophanes (1930), "Ethiopians" by Heliodor (1932) and many others. etc., - the author of various decorative elements of many publications.

• 1918 - returns at the end of the year to Petrograd; - Appointed Head of the Department of Engravings and Drawings of the Russian Museum.
• 1919 - professor at the Higher Institute of Photography and Phototechnics (until 1923); - works on covers for the "People's Library" of the State Publishing House; - series covers (until 1926).
• 1921 - the book Vs. Voinov "Bookmarks of D.I. Mitrokhin" (other publications about D.I. Mitrokhin are in the list).
• 1924 - professor at the printing department of the Academy of Arts (book graphics course - until 1934).

In the 1920s, D. I. Mitrokhin again came into contact with children's literature, he illustrated and designed several books, among which we should highlight the already mentioned "Gold Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe (1921-1922) and "Journey to the Land of Cinema" by V. Shklovsky (1926), "The October alphabet" (1927). The work on the latest edition once again confirms the artist's brilliant mastery of the art of type. The appearance of the two-volume satirical novel by Karl Immermann "Munchausen" (1930-1932) suggests that the artist very ingeniously approached the solution of the entire structure of this publication: the characters of the work are sharply caricatured, turning into peculiar, entertaining comments on the book, the layout of the title sheets is witty; binding, flyleaf, dust jacket - everything is in harmony. Since the autumn of 1939, D. I. Mitrokhin worked on the design of the book of fairy tales by H. K. Andersen, having received an order from a German publishing house. As can be understood from the artist's letters, he continued to create interesting illustrations, judging by the few surviving copies, already in mid-June 1941 - this edition was not destined to see the light of day ...

D. Mitrokhin. Bookplate by A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. 1924

He has developed several dozen publishing brands, trade emblems and labels. In the field of "small forms", which was mastered by D. I. Mitrokhin back in the 1910s, a book sign occupies a special place. A perfect master of composition, well versed in both the decorative and graphic components of the book, subtly feeling its nature, he made almost fifty bookplates (most of them date back to 1919-1923) - these works are rightfully ranked among the best created in this genre in Russia.

But in the period from the end of the 1920s to the mid-1930s, the artist departed from book graphics, only periodically and without the same interest returning to it. After the war, he very rarely performs any work for publications. An exception can be considered the illustrated and designed by D. I. Mitrokhin in 1959 "French Tales" (M. GIHL), and one of the last - the book of memoirs by M. V. Nesterov (M. "Art"), designed by him in the same year.

The work of D. I. Mitrokhin has undergone changes over the course of almost half a century of his active work in this area, as if anticipating the artist’s appeal to the only possible for him, but also the most striking, unique form of application of his talent - drawing, which from a certain moment will be destined to become universal expressive means of his worldview. One gets the impression that the same “preparatory” function was performed by other types of easel graphics, as if helping the artist to find this lapidary, intelligible, but far from monosyllabic language of the main works in terms of content, capacity, individual, completely independent graphic handwriting.

Woodcut. Cutter. Lithography

D. Mitrokhin. Brush seller. 1926. Woodcut

D. Mitrokhin. Football player. 1926. Woodcut

Having the opportunity to perceive this creative experience retrospectively, one can observe just such a trend in its development: since the mid-1930s, book graphics no longer have paramount importance in the artist’s work, it begins to give way to woodcuts, engravings on metal, drawing and watercolor. Work from nature was never excluded from the number of regular classes, from the sphere of interests of D. I. Mitrokhin, and he constantly searched and improved in this area, which affected the gradual transformation of the meaning and content of the drawing: from the necessary understanding of the tradition to which he belonged, "schools of nature" - to the expressed independent value of the original easel sheet.

• 1923 - the beginning of systematic woodcut studies (until 1934).
• 1925 - the first personal exhibition (Kazan - 250 sheets).
• 1927 - begins to engrave with a chisel and drypoint on metal (until 1951).
• 1928 - began to study lithography (until 1934).
• 1935-1941 - working on a series of engravings from the cycle "Leningrad landscapes" (Petrograd side, Central Park of Culture and Recreation).
• 1941 - in the first days of the Great Patriotic War, he volunteered for the people's militia; - The 58-year-old artist works for the publishing house of the General Staff, for the Institute of Blood Transfusion (“History of Blood Transfusion” (1941-1942); - created about 100 pencil and watercolor drawings, including those dedicated to the life of the besieged city.
• 1942 - on the morning of January 1, the artist's wife Alisa Yakovlevna Bruschetti died; - in the summer he works from nature on the streets of the besieged city and exhibits his drawings; - at the end of the year, D. I. Mitrokhin, after a stay in the hospital, in a state of extreme exhaustion, was evacuated to Alma-Ata.
• 1943 - Member of the board of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan and chairman of its graphic section, exhibited, mainly occupied with watercolors.

D. Mitrokhin. Blockade. 1941

D. I. Mitrokhin began to engage in woodcuts “almost out of curiosity”, under the influence of Vsevolod Vladimirovich Voinov, one of the initiators and propagandists of the revival of woodcuts as an independent (non-reproductive) easel technique, with which Dmitry Isidorovich was well acquainted from the “World of Art” - and museum work; in 1941 they joined the militia together, survived the blockade, and were together in Alma-Ata. V. Voinov also introduced B. M. Kustodiev to woodcuts, who, due to illness in his last years, was not completely isolated from creativity only thanks to engraving.

D. Mitrokhin. Houses on Karpovka. 1929. Woodcut

D. Mitrokhin. street types. 1928. Woodcut

D. Mitrokhin. Storm. 1932. Woodcut

D. I. Mitrokhin made a little more than 70 engravings, but even this relatively small number of works in this area allows us to rank him among the best domestic masters of woodcuts. Starting with techniques close to the “black manner”, when the artist preferred a white, slightly rough stroke, he later comes to “a silvery scale rich in halftones and various textured elements”; he is alien to any kind of “panhandling of virtuosity” - initially in woodcuts he is attracted by pictorial expressiveness, for this purpose he sometimes illuminates prints with watercolors - sometimes barely noticeable, sometimes - corpus and juicy. And here one can observe the integrity of Mitrokhin's art, as evidenced by the well-traced relationship between his woodcut and drawing.

The works of this period (1920s - late 1930s) are dominated by landscape cycles - many woodcuts and engravings (the artist deliberately did not turn to etching, appreciating the clean, lively line of a dry needle and a cutter), lithographs dedicated to the then outskirts of Leningrad - the wastelands of Petrogradskaya side, the squares of the islands. “Mitrokhin became endlessly attached to the landscape of this part of the city, which was very special in those years. It was here, thanks to the rapid development of the beginning of the century, interrupted by the First World War and the revolution, that a kind of architecturally unorganized conglomerate of large tenement houses with blank firewalls, wastelands with mighty old trees, endless fences and surviving wooden houses was created. The landscape, which could not be seen in other parts of the former capital, captivated Mitrokhin with the poignant contrast of the city that suddenly stopped in its advance and the islands of nature heroically resisting it.

Starting from his Parisian sketches, Dmitry Mitrokhin's work invariably has a genre theme. Its roots go back to a stable and richest tradition, dating back to antiquity - it continues in medieval book graphics, in oriental miniatures, in the drawings of old masters, in Renaissance engravings, in Dürer's folk types, among the Little Dutch, in Russian popular prints , finally - in Japanese ukiyo-e prints. It acquires the greatest social acuteness in the 18th century in the famous series of French and English engravings "Cries of Paris" and "Cries of London"; this tradition is developed by drawings, lithographs and porcelain figurines of the St. Petersburg folk types of the early 19th century.

D. Mitrokhin. Flowers in a glass. 1934. Cutter. Roulette. Painted print

And if street scenes, small figures of passers-by, as a kind of “staffage”, enliven almost all the landscapes of D. I. Mitrokhin, then in his urban suite of woodcuts of the mid-1920s - early 1930s, the character, “man from the street” occupies central location. The works of these sometimes kindly ironic, sometimes almost grotesque cycles, together with a series of lithographs and engravings in larger formats, are most consistent with this tradition (“Street types”, “Ice cream man”, “Football player”, “Flower seller”, “Polyester”, “Petrorayrabkoop " and etc.) .

At the same time, in the 1930s, in a series of end engravings by D. I. Mitrokhin dedicated to the life of the Azov region, “genre painting” was replaced by romantic motifs dictated by the artist’s interest “in the plot in its specific forms, concern for decorative integrity and woodcut expressiveness sheet".

Fluency in the techniques of woodcutting, which D. I. Mitrokhin came to in the mid-1930s, naturally leads the artist to switch interests to engraving with a chisel, which already attracted him at that time. While end engraving and lithography have experienced a revival since the 1920s, engraving in Russia has already lost the features of high art, having only applied significance; in Western Europe, it was also only in the 10-20s that some masters began to come to an understanding for graphics of its independent value, which had also long been there among only handicraft, reproduction. The artist, having a general idea of ​​the technique of incisive engraving, did not have living examples around him, and it is precisely the understanding of its possibilities for solving independent graphic tasks from the very first experiments that leads the master away from reproduction techniques - he “draws” with a engraver. On this occasion, Yu. A. Rusakov rightly noted: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was a new discovery of engraving with a cutter.” Enriching the tonal possibilities, the master also works with a dry needle, the freer discipline of the line of which also brings it closer in terms of the achieved effects to a natural drawing, pen drawing, which was one of the author's tasks - to preserve their liveliness and warmth. But he does not imitate the drawing, but only tries, thanks to this use of the possibilities of engraving on metal, to give the print a fresh impression, an emotional character.

D. Mitrokhin. Storm. 1932. Drypoint

D. Mitrokhin. Lantern (detail). 1928. Lithography

In the 1920s, he turned to the same subject: landscapes of the Petrograd side, still life, Yeysk, but it gets a plot expansion - the work acquires greater dynamics, in some cases - the quality of picturesqueness. In the mid-30s, he created a cycle of large-format prints dedicated to the Central Park of Culture and Culture - several panoramic landscapes based on sketches made from windows. A separate small group of works consisted of still lifes engraved by D. I. Mitrokhin at the turn of the 30s-40s, which the author originally meant light watercolor coloring; the general state of these works is close to the vision to which he came much later.

Metal engraving by D. I. Mitrokhin is a unique phenomenon in pre-war Soviet art. The true artistry with which the master managed to embody the subtle emotional structure and lyricism of his artistic nature did not find a response to support this fresh undertaking, and the real area of ​​\u200b\u200bhis work truly alone occupies a place among the “biggest phenomena of European engraving on metal of the 20th century” - notes artist, art historian Yu. A. Rusakov. A recognized specialist, a connoisseur of etching V. M. Zvontsov agrees with him: “He was the only one who developed the art of incisive engraving right up to our days. such an idea of ​​​​Mitrokhin was reinforced by stories about him by artists of the older generation, my teachers (V. N. Levitsky, L. F. Ovsyannikov, G. S. Vereisky and others ” .

Until the second half of the 1920s, he only twice turned to work on stone. Of those created by D. I. Mitrokhin in lithography, half refers to 1928 - the first year of his full-fledged occupation with this printmaking technique.

In order to preserve the lively contact of a soft lithographic pencil with the working surface, he neglects the root pyre, which allows him to transfer a previously made drawing - the artist works directly on the stone. And here he uses all the richness of techniques: he draws with a wide light stroke, uses a pen, brightens the tone by scratching long parallel strokes (which is possible only when working directly on the printed plane). Most of all, he made easel lithographs for monochrome prints - on one stone, but several lithographs were printed from 2 and even from 3 stones (1929-1931).

The same theme prevails in his lithographs as in the end engraving - the Leningrad street, the fishing Yeysk. The best series is "Six lithographs, colored by the author" (1928). And here the artist's attention is focused on colorful street types, these works convey to us the look of the city, the aroma of a bygone era...

A short passion for this technique resulted for D. I. Mitrokhin in the experience of using it in book graphics - “Selected Works” by N. S. Leskov (1931) were designed. The artist made the last lithograph in 1934 - this is a landscape of the TsPKiO, he never turned to it again.

D. Mitrokhin. Transport under my window. 1948-1949. Cutter

• 1944 - moves to Moscow in July; from that time he began to systematically study watercolor and drawing; periodically returns to book graphics (until the 1960s).
• 1946 - resumes metal engraving (until 1951).
• 1959 - begins to work with colored pencils.
• 1967-1969 - made several drypoint engravings.
• 1969 - awarded the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR.
• 1971 - the last article by D. I. Mitrokhin "Draw every day" ("Creativity", No. 4)
• 1973 - exhibitions in the Small Gallery of the publishing house "Art" (Dresden) and "To the 90th anniversary and 70th anniversary of creative activity" in the Union of Artists of the USSR in Moscow (more than 800 sheets). On November 7, the artist passed away.

During the Moscow period of creativity, D. I. Mitrokhin twice returned to engraving on metal - 20 prints of the second half of the 1940s - early 1950s and several works in the late 1960s. Among these works there are several first-class ones, of which the Taran (1948) - a very expressive, dynamic engraving - "Apple and Nuts" (1969), which even without the implied coloring gives the impression of being completely finished, should be mentioned.

Drawing

D. I. Mitrokhin. Chairs. 1968. Pencil

With all the successes of D. I. Mitrokhin in book graphics and achievements in engraving, the most significant and significant part of his work is easel drawing. This concept combines the actual pencil work, and watercolor, and works made in mixed media - the main occupation of the last thirty years of his life. Hundreds of small easel sheets (mostly the size of a postcard, notepad page) contain the most vivid and impressive expression of the artist's worldview; they very organically merged graphic and pictorial principles; these suites, created over the years, are the life-filled pages of a diary.

Most of those who have studied the legacy of Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin come to the conclusion that the last thirty years of his creative life is the most interesting in many respects. This is a method that completely satisfied the artist, did not constrain, did not force him to comply with the order, this is the universal form of self-expression he found, to which he, when consciously, and when unconsciously, went for many years, this is a synthesis of everything he understood and suffered , which resulted in an intoxicated, measured narration, which was composed by simple natural words of a clear and harmonious language of hundreds of works. In such an assessment of the last period, without denying the importance of everything he did earlier, everyone who knew and appreciated his work is in solidarity: M. V. Alpatov, Yu. A. Rusakov and E. A. Kibrik, N. I. Khardzhiev, V M. Zvontsov, A. Ransom and I. V. Golitsyn, finally - the sculptor L. V. Chaga, who very subtly and empathetically understood this work, becoming a sensitive and not indifferent witness to the triumph of truly free art.

D. I. Mitrokhin. Apples and nuts. 1969. Cutter, dry point. Painted print

Vasily Mikhailovich Zvontsov, who headed the editorial office of the Avrora publishing house (1973-1977) - the best domestic of that time, and who was preparing a book about D. I. Mitrokhin for publication, was forced to rebuild the monograph after he saw in its entirety what the artist had done in recent decades . He speaks of the “unexpected and overwhelming” impression that these notebook sheets made on him: “At the last stage of this path, the artist achieved extraordinary perfection, possible in rare cases. He gained complete unity of intent and means of expression.

And indeed, the "third" period of his work, D. I. Mitrokhin refuted the established opinion about the impossibility for the artist of a "fresh look", "young perception" in old age. With his drawings, in response to the opinion of K. Hamsun that “no person can be expected to ... write so well after fifty years as he wrote before” - the master declares that very much depends on the inner world of this person, and on the discipline that he follows - the artist is no longer able to draw an even line, but his works amaze with the confidence of the lines, the sonority of the images until the last day.

D. I. Mitrokhin. Interior. 1964. Pencil

To those who came to him with the intention of paying tribute to the "living relic", "the last World of Art", Dmitry Isidorovich declared that for a long time "there is no Mitrokhin", that the "Knebel Mitrokhin" does not interest him at all. “They praised his book graphics… admired the bookplates. Among such visitors there were not only “scribes”, “collectors”, but also artists. None of them remembered either Mitrokhin's engravings or his drawings. Dmitry Isidorovich was very annoyed by such visitors, blushed angrily and said that he was “not yet dead” ... With wide, heavy steps he passes through the rooms. The clothes are too loose on his emaciated body. The sculptures of Giacometti came to mind. But the eyes look sharp and young. And the hands, unusually expressive, retained their grace and strength to the end.

And depending on the readiness of the search that came to perception, which worried the artist at that moment, and D. I. Mitrokhin was insightful - he always “saw the interlocutor very well”, he laid out his last works in front of him: amazingly diverse landscapes observed from the same windows, very meaningful productions - two, three objects, various interiors seen in the same room ...

This is a story without literature, when the "heroes" live their own lives, have a pronounced character, temperament, interact, and the theater - genuine drama literally forces the viewer to seek, capture the moods, intonations of the "actors". Perhaps this is the only positive alternative to Jewish theatricalization? By the way, D. I. Mitrokhin was well acquainted with N. N. Evreinov, both as an author, and as a playwright, and as a person (they even “agreed” in one edition - on the title “Primitive Drama of the Germans” only that the publishing brand of the Polar Star created by the graphic artist) - as, by the way, he was familiar with many actors and writers. He himself wrote poetry in his youth - in 1908 in Kharkov, N. Poyarkov published the almanac "Crystal" with its cover, which does not exhaust the participation in the publication of D. I. Mitrokhin - two poems from his cycle "To the South" are placed here: Fishermen" and "Heat", which are inspired by memories of Yeysk and the Sea of ​​Azov. Andrey Bely, Konstantin Balmont, Alexander (Alexander Bryusov), I. Novikov, S. Krechetov and others participated in the almanac.

"Still-Leben"

D. Mitrokhin. Nut. 1969. Pencil, watercolor

Initially, D. I. Mitrokhin, by the will of fate, ended up in the camp of those who were closest to the salon, but then in Russia it was the inevitable path of aesthetics, opposed to the dominance of vulgarity, unceremoniously invading art; he also experienced other influences, overcoming them step by step two-thirds of his way, remaining, moreover, a first-class master.

The “way back”, but the path to “new spaces”, was also difficult, until the time when “a new voice broke through” - painful. “Orders from publishers are being discontinued. Customers are disappointed - the former virtuoso master does not exist.”

According to L. Chag, the artist had to start with studies, timid drawings, "dirt" student still lifes, black shadows. This wise artist returns the "objectivity" of the depicted - with only one difference: now the "components of the narrated" are spiritualized, he endows them with a new sense of participation, without the need for sentimental-decorative, super-realistic or extremely generalized - they are not indifferent to the viewer, through their declaring the right to a confidential, sincere dialogue between the artist and him… The author is a representative of those very “main forces” (a Polish artist once asked them about the time of their arrival) appear as soon as they were accepted into their arms by mass culture, and proclaimed everywhere), calmly and consistently, without advertising and affectations, began to do their favorite thing well, endowing with new meaning and space - there is no need for giant formats to express great thoughts.

By the way, the flowers here are not just beautiful plants or their varieties, they have not only the qualities of a living, but also the ability to convey the shades of the mood of their "second" creator - a conscientious, patient and thoughtful student of the "first". Pharmaceutical bottles, thanks to the care of the author, very actively exceed their utility. Fruit rejoice, nuts lurk, shells are about to fight, here the chairs are an extension of their owners, and not vice versa.

“There were also“ Anderson ”plots - a needle and a pin, a skein of twine. Handicraft toys - whistles, horses, roosters, wooden, painted eggs - appeared in the drawings in the most unexpected incarnations and interpretations: they changed color, proportions, were transferred to an imaginary space, scenes, “little tragedies” were played out.

The dry branches of an old tree are generously strewn with flowers.

Gallery

Articles by D. I. Mitrokhin

• "Art exhibitions in Moscow" - "Morning". Kharkov, 1907, January 25
• "Exhibition of paintings by B. E. Borisov-Musatov" - "Morning". Kharkov, 1907, February 27
• "Bohemia" - "Morning". Kharkov, 1907, November 4
• K. Gies. - "Youth", 1907, No. 2-3, p. 13, 14
• Manga Hokusai. - "Russian rumor", 1912, December 22. Anonymous, no title. - The first article about the great Japanese artist, written by a Russian author. The authorship of D. I. Mitrokhin is noted in the report of P. I. Neradovsky (1919).
• 1870 in a French cartoon. - "Voice of Life", 1915, No. 7, p. 16
• The Disasters of War by Jacques Callot. - "Voice of Life" (Petrograd), 1915, No. 10, p. 14, 16
• Drawings by V. D. Zamirailo. - "New magazine for everyone" (Petrograd), 1915, No. 5, p. 54, 55
• About Narbut (about the exhibition in the Russian Museum) - in the book "Argonauts" (Petrograd), 1923, p. 19-21
• In memory of Narbut. - Among collectors, 1922, No. 9, p. 5-9
• About M. Dobuzhinsky's drawings for Tupey artist N. Leskov and V. Konashevich for A. Fet's Poems. - Among collectors, 1922, No. 7-8, p. 71, 72
• Etching notes. - in the book of P. A. Shilingovsky "Russian engravers". Kazan 1926
• V. M. Konashevich. - in the book "B. M. Konashevich about himself and his business. M. 1968. S. 115-119
• About the drawing. - Journal of Creativity, 1971, No. 4, p. 6-8

Artistic associations in which D. I. Mitrokhin was a member

Books and articles about D. I. Mitrokhin

• Zamirailo V. D. I. Mitrokhin. - "Mirror". 1911. No. 20
• Mantel A. D. Mitrokhin. Foreword by N. Roerich. Kazan. 1912
• Levinson A. Art publications. - "Day" (application "Literature, art and science"). 1913, December 16.
• Philosophers D. Beautiful books. - "Speech". 1915, January 19.
• Lisenkov E. Two books with drawings by Mitrokhin. - House of Arts. 1921, no. 2, p. 108, 109
• Warriors Vsevolod. Bookmarks by D. I. Mitrokhin. Petersburg. 1921
• M. Kuzmin, Warriors Vsevolod . D. I. Mitrokhin. Moscow. 1922
• Kuzmin M. Voinov V. D. I. Mitrokhin. Moscow-Petrograd. 1922
• Kusmin M. Woinov W. D. I. Mitrochin. Moscow-Petrograd. 1922
• Kuzmine M. Voinov V. D. I. Mitrokhine. Moscow-Petrograd. 1922
• Ettinger P. D. I. Mitrokhin. M.: Children's literature. 1940
• Rusakov Yu. New works of D. Mitrokhin. M.: Art. 1961
• Alpatov M. Drawings by artist Mitrokhin. Magazine "Decorative Art of the USSR" No. 5. 1962. S. 32, 33
• Koivtun Y. Dmitry Mitrokhin's Metal Engravings. Soviet Literature. Moscow. 1964. I. PP. 167, 169
• Rusakov Yu. Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin. L.-M. 1966
• Aleksandrova N. D. I. Mitrokhin. - The art of the book. V. 5. M. 1968. S. 146-153
• Zvontsov V. The legacy of Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin (1883-1973) - Art Magazine. No. 8. 1974. S. 33-38
• Souris B. Dmitry Mitrokhin. - Soviet graphics "73. M. 1974. S. 78-84
• Alpatov M. Mitrokhin's drawings of recent years. - Questions of the Soviet fine arts. M. 1975. S. 238-251

Notes

Sources

• Dmitry Mitrokhin. L: Aurora. 1977.
• Book about Mitrokhin. Articles, letters, memoirs. Compiled by L. V. Chaga. Preparation of the text and notes by I. Ya. Vasilyeva. - M.: Artist of the RSFSR. 1986
• D. I. Mitrokhin. Works of recent years. A set of postcards (bilingual). - Leningrad: Aurora. 1973
at Wikimedia Commons
• Little torment on the Runivers website with illustrations by D. Mitrokhin
• Almansor's life on the Runivers website with illustrations by D. Mitrokhin

Mitrokhin Dmitry Isidorovich (1883 - 1973 ) - illustrator, book designer. Master of easel woodcuts, lithography, engraving with a chisel and drypoint, easel drawing, watercolors. He studied in Moscow, at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1902 - 1904) under A.M. Vasnetsova, A.S. Stepanova; Stroganov Central School of Industrial Art under S.V. Noakovsky, S.I. Yaguzhinsky; Parisian Academie de la Grande Chaumiere under the direction of T. Steilin, E. Grasse (1905 - 1906). He worked in the artel of artists "Murava" (1904 - 1905, 1907 - 1908) in Moscow. Lived in St. Petersburg (since 1908), Moscow (since 1944). Member of the association "World of Art" (since 1916). Curator of the Drawing and Engraving Department at the State Russian Museum (1918 - 1923). He taught in Leningrad at the Higher Institute of Photography and Phototechnics (1919 - 1923), at VKHUTEIN (1924 - 1930). Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR.

1965 Watercolor, ink, gouache, paper

1965 Watercolor, graphite pencil, paper

On the Malaya Nevka. 1939. Engraving with a cutter, watercolor

paper / etching 1925

Landscape paper / etching 1947

Bridge. 1927. Engraving with a chisel

Transport under my window 1948-1949. Cutter

Exhibition at the State Literary Museum.

Exhibition in the Galeev Gallery.

"Draw every day, think about what you will draw next time, observe, search, always look for new ways of depicting. Reality never repeats itself. Always search, remaining yourself, never settling down on what has been done."

Dmitry Mitrokhin

"Draw every day, think about what you will draw next time, observe, search, always look for new ways of depicting. Reality never repeats itself. Always search, remaining yourself, never settling down on what has been done."
Dmitry Mitrokhin

"He was the only one who developed the art of engraving right up to the present day. This idea of ​​​​Mitrokhin was supported by the stories about him of the older generation of artists, my teachers (V.N. Levitsky, L.F. Ovsyannikov, G.S. Vereisky and others)"
V.M.Zvontsov

Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin (1883 - 1973) - Russian artist, master of book and easel graphics.

Born in the family of a small employee and the daughter of a Cossack merchant. As a child, spending a lot of time in his grandfather's printing house, he got acquainted with printing art and became interested in reading. After graduating from the Yeysk real school, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and in 1903 took part in the school's exhibition for the first time. A year later, he moved to the Stroganov School, studied at the drawing classes of the Grande Chaumière Academy (Académie de la Grande Chaumiére), devoting a lot of time to studying both modern graphics and drawings by old masters, classical European and Japanese engravings.

Since 1908, Dmitry Mitrokhin has been collaborating with several publishing houses, taking part in the World of Art exhibition. Throughout his life he was a member of many creative art associations and societies. Since 1908, he has been systematically engaged in book graphics, drawing for many leading book publishers - I. N. Knebel”, “Golike and Vilborg”, “Enlightenment”, “Pechatnik”, “M. and S. Sabashnikovs” and others. He worked a lot on illustrations for children's books; in his work, he adhered to a single principle for all elements of the book - everything, from the cover with endpapers to fonts with decor, was subject to stylistic commonality.

In Soviet times, he continued his work, combining it with engraving, etching, lithography; since 1918 he was in charge of the Department of Engravings and Drawings of the Russian Museum, was a professor at the Institute of Photography and Phototechnics, the printing department of the Academy of Arts. In total, he designed and illustrated a huge number of books, developed several dozen publishing marks, trade emblems and labels, and made almost fifty bookplates.

Pupil of A. M. Vasnetsov (brother), A. S. Stepanov, S. I. Yaguzhinsky. He visited the workshop of E. S. Kruglikova in Paris in 1901 - 1903. Member of the association "World of Art" since 1916. Acquaintance with the outstanding figure V. D. Zamirailo inclines him to choose the path of the schedule.

He painted in different techniques, recognized as a master of woodcuts. In the art of the book, he paid special attention not to striped illustrations, but to the entire ornamental-rhythmic complex of the cover, endpapers, title page, headpieces and endings, etc., carefully outlining each element, masterfully maintaining the general style of the book.

"Ghost ship"
Illustrator Dmitry Mitrokhin
Written by Wilhelm Hauff
Country Russia
Year of publication 1913
Publishing house I.N.Knebel

drawings and etchings

"When people ask me which of my works I value the most, I usually answer: those that will be done tomorrow. Because the work of a lifetime is preparing for what you will do tomorrow"
D.I. Mitrokhin

Biography

Outstanding Russian and Soviet graphic artist, illustrator, master of easel engraving, etching and lithography; author of many book illustrations. Art critic. He headed the graphic section of the Leningrad branch of the Union of Artists of the USSR (LOSH, 1932-1939). Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1969).

Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin was born in Yeysk, Krasnodar Territory. After graduating from the Yeysk real school (1902), he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ). At MUZhVZ, D. I. Mitrokhin’s teachers were A. M. Vasnetsov and A. S. Stepanov. In 1904 he moved to the Stroganov School. His ceramics participate in the XII exhibition of the Moscow Association of Artists (1905); in November he travels to Paris via St. Petersburg and Cologne. In 1906, he studied at the drawing classes of the Academy of Grande Chaumière (Académie de la Grande Chaumiére), under E. Grasse and T. Steinlen.

The artist works in several publishing houses in St. Petersburg (1908). At the invitation of A. Benois and K. Somov, Mitrokhin takes part in the exhibition "World of Art". Participates in the "Salon" S. Makovsky and in the VI exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists.

Dmitry Mitrokhin is a member of many art associations: "Murava" (Artel of potters, 1904-1908), the Moscow Association of Artists (1905-1924), the Leonardo da Vinci Society (1906-1911), the Tver Social and Pedagogical Circle (1909-1913 ), Union of Russian Artists (SRH, 1910–1923), Ring (1911–1914), Moscow Salon (1911–1921), Apartment No. 5 (1915–1917), World of Art (1916– 1924), "House of Arts" (1919-1922), Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1922-1932), "Sixteen" (1923-1928), "Fire-Color" (1923-1929), Section of Engravers (OPKh, 1928- 1929), Society of Painters (1928-1930). Founding member of the Society of Graphic Artists (1928–1932).

Works as head of the Department of Engravings and Drawings of the Russian Museum (1918). Professor of the Higher Institute of Photography and Phototechnics (1919–1926). Professor of the printing department of the Higher Artistic and Technical Institute (1924-1930) in Leningrad.

He has developed several dozen publishing brands, trade emblems and labels. In the field of "small forms", which was mastered by D. I. Mitrokhin back in the 1910s, a book sign occupies a special place. A perfect master of composition, well versed in both decorative and graphic components of the book, subtly feeling its nature, he made almost fifty bookplates (most of them belong to 1919-1923).

In Soviet times, the artist successfully engaged in easel graphics, designs and illustrates books; he is the author of a huge cycle of miniatures in the genre of chamber still life. This work of an illustrator, performed by him with love, he enthusiastically and very successfully combined it with engraving, etching, and lithography. He designed and illustrated a significant number of books and magazines in various publishing houses - "Lights", "Petropolis", "Petrograd", "Thought". "Surf" and many others, in the best of them - Academia (with which he collaborated for about six years): "Seven Love Portraits" by A. de Regnier (1920, 1921; Petrograd), Marina Tsvetaeva's fairy tale poem "The Tsar Maiden" (1922); - made in a manner that has already become traditional for the artist, provocative pen drawings for the design of "The Golden Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe (1922), "Epsin" by Ben Jonson (1920, 1921; "Petropolis"), - illustrations by Victor Hugo (1923), Henri Barbusse, Octave Mirbeau, "Books of Comedies" by Aristophanes (1930), "Ethiopians" by Heliodor (1932).

In the 1920s, D. I. Mitrokhin again came into contact with children's literature, he illustrated and designed several books, among which we should highlight the already mentioned "Golden Bug" by Edgar Poe (1921-1922) and "Journey to the Land of Cinema" by V. Shklovsky (1926), "The October alphabet" (1927). The work on the latest edition once again confirms the artist's brilliant mastery of the art of type. The appearance of the two-volume set of K. Immermann's satirical novel "Munchausen" (1930–1932) suggests that the artist very ingeniously approached the solution of the whole structure of this publication: the characters of the work are sharply caricatured, turning into peculiar, entertaining comments on the book, the layout of the title sheets is witty; binding, flyleaf, dust jacket - everything is in harmony. Since the autumn of 1939, D. I. Mitrokhin worked on the design of the book of fairy tales by H. K. Andersen, having received an order from a German publishing house. As can be understood from the artist's letters, he continued to create interesting illustrations, judging by the few surviving copies, already in mid-June 1941 - this edition was not destined to see the light of day.

From the mid-1930s, for D. I. Mitrokhin, book graphics no longer had paramount importance in his work, it began to give way to woodcuts, engraving on metal, drawing and watercolor. Work from nature has never been excluded from the number of regular classes, from the sphere of interests of the artist, and he was constantly looking for and improving in this area. Dmitry Mitrokhin made a little more than 70 engravings, but even this relatively small number of works in this area allows us to rank him among the best domestic masters of woodcuts. Starting with techniques close to the "black manner", when the artist preferred a white, slightly rough stroke, he later comes to "a silvery range rich in halftones and various textured elements."

Mitrokhin began to engage in woodcuts “almost out of curiosity”, under the influence of V. V. Voinov, one of the initiators and propagandists of the revival of woodcuts as an independent (non-reproductive) easel technique, with whom Dmitry Isidorovich was well acquainted from the World of Art, - and museum work; in 1941 they joined the militia together, survived the blockade, and were together in Alma-Ata. Mitrokhin worked at the publishing house of the General Staff, from 1941 to 1942 at the Institute of Blood Transfusion. Created about 100 pencil and watercolor drawings, including those dedicated to the life of the besieged city.

Metal engraving by D. I. Mitrokhin is a unique phenomenon in pre-war Soviet art. The true artistry with which the master managed to embody the subtle emotional structure and lyricism of his artistic nature did not find a response to support this fresh undertaking, and the real area of ​​\u200b\u200bhis work truly alone occupies a place among “the largest phenomena of European engraving on metal of the 20th century” - notes artist, art historian Yu. A. Rusakov.

Until the second half of the 1920s, he only twice turned to work on stone. Of those created by D. I. Mitrokhin in lithography, half refers to 1928 - the first year of his full-fledged occupation with this printmaking technique. In order to maintain the lively contact of the soft lithographic pencil with the working surface, he neglects the root pyre, which allows him to transfer the previously made drawing - the artist works directly on the stone. And here he uses all the richness of techniques: he draws with a wide light stroke, uses a pen, brightens the tone, scratching long parallel strokes. Most of all, he made easel lithographs for monochrome prints - on one stone, but several lithographs were printed from 2 and even from 3 stones (1929-1931).

The same theme prevails in his lithographs as in the end engraving - the Leningrad street, the fishing Yeysk. The best series - "Six lithographs, colored by the author" (1928). And here the artist's attention is focused on colorful street types, these works convey to us the look of the city, the aroma of a bygone era.

A short passion for this technique resulted for D. I. Mitrokhin in the experience of using it in book graphics - “Selected Works” by N. S. Leskov (1931) were designed. The artist made the last lithograph in 1934 - this is a landscape of the Central Park of Culture and Culture, he never turned to it again.

With all the successes of D. I. Mitrokhin in book graphics and achievements in engraving, the most significant and significant part of his work is easel drawing. This concept combines the actual pencil work, and watercolor, and works made in mixed media - the main occupation of the last thirty years of his life. Hundreds of small easel sheets (mostly the size of a postcard, notepad page) contain the most vivid and impressive expression of the artist's worldview; they very organically merged graphic and pictorial principles; these suites, created over the years, are pages of a diary filled with life. The work of D. I. Mitrokhin has undergone changes over the course of almost half a century of his active work in this area, as if anticipating the artist’s appeal to the only possible for him, but also the most striking, unique form of application of his talent - drawing, which from a certain moment will be destined to become universal expressive means of his worldview. One gets the impression that the same “preparatory” function was performed by other types of easel graphics, as if helping the artist to find this lapidary, intelligible, but far from monosyllabic language of the main works in terms of content, capacity, individual, completely independent graphic handwriting.

Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin, who lived a long creative life, had the good fortune to study, collaborate, make friends, be in associations and societies with many artists, among whom were those whose mark on the art of the 20th century is comparable to the influence on the course of history of the most important discoveries of the era. In the first lines of the artist's autobiographical notes, there are the names of M. F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova and A. V. Fonvizin, who studied side by side and were friends with him - S. T. Konenkov and S. V. Malyutin.

In different periods of comprehension of the paths of expressiveness and skill, the artist's interest was focused on their different manifestations, and with a different measure of their impact on the artist's worldview, sometimes ephemeral and almost opportunistic, and therefore easily and painlessly overcome, such as, for example, salon, Beardsley, modern tendencies - those that required a longer "neutralization", purely decorative, stylized ornamental, popular print and printed motifs; or, on the contrary, in the form of a deep, essential understanding, realized in the artist's system of views - Western European and Japanese engravings. “But, having gone through these hobbies,” writes M. V. Alpatov, “he returned to such values ​​of art that outgrow the boundaries of time and space and exist everywhere.”

The work of the artist D. I. Mitrokhin is represented in the Russian Museum (RM), the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI), the Russian National Library (St. Petersburg), the Museum of Fine Arts of Karelia, the National Gallery of the Komi Republic, the Udmurt Museum of Fine Arts , Chuvash Art Museum, Lugansk Museum, many private collections and galleries.

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Biography

Dmitry Isidorovich Mitrokhin(1883-1973) - Russian graphic artist, illustrator, book artist, art critic.

Born in the family of a small employee and the daughter of a Cossack merchant. As a child, spending a lot of time in his grandfather's printing house, he got acquainted with printing art and became interested in reading. After graduating from the Yeysk real school, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and in 1903 took part in the school's exhibition for the first time. A year later, he moved to the Stroganov School, studied at the drawing classes of the Grande Chaumière Academy. (Académie de la Grande Chaumiere), devoting a lot of time to studying both modern graphics and drawings by old masters, classical European and Japanese engravings.

Since 1908, Dmitry Mitrokhin has been collaborating with several publishing houses, taking part in the World of Art exhibition. Throughout his life he was a member of many creative art associations and societies. Since 1908, he has been systematically engaged in book graphics, drawing for many leading book publishers - I. N. Knebel”, “Golike and Vilborg”, “Enlightenment”, “Pechatnik”, “M. and S. Sabashnikovs” and others. He worked a lot on illustrations for children's books; in his work, he adhered to a single principle for all elements of the book - everything, from the cover with endpapers to fonts with decor, was subject to stylistic commonality.

In Soviet times, he continued his work, combining it with engraving, etching, lithography; since 1918 he was in charge of the Department of Engravings and Drawings of the Russian Museum, was a professor at the Institute of Photography and Phototechnics, the printing department of the Academy of Arts. In total, he designed and illustrated a huge number of books, developed several dozen publishing marks, trade emblems and labels, and made almost fifty bookplates.

Mostly I draw with a pencil (lead). Then I like to color my drawing with watercolors. This method of work, apparently, arose as a result of long engraving. The pencil often lays down like a chisel or engraving needle. Sometimes I use colored pencils. But I am not a painter, color plays a secondary role in my works. The basis, the design is the drawing. The size of the drawings (probably as a result of many years of work on the book) does not exceed the size of book pages. Everything I want to say fits on a small piece of paper. I speak softly and succinctly.

I can't say anything new about the drawing. Nothing but the simple rules laid out in any textbook. This is the method that I have been guided by all my life: draw, draw, draw. Draw every day as long as you are alive, as long as you exist, because to draw is what it means to live, to join all living things. Drawing is the basis of all fine art, of all its types.

Drawing from nature is the study of the reality around us, all the vast life: people, landscape, dwellings, clouds, light, shadow, things living near us.

I don't like the word "still life". Better another term: "Still-Leben". A calm, hidden life that an artist can and should see.

All my long life I have been mainly engaged in illustrating books. A lot of compositions, engravings, lithographs were also made. So, the basis of all my work has always been drawings and sketches from nature.

Before drawing, you need to see: the more drawings are made from life, the easier it will be to depict what is invented, read or heard.

Draw every day, think about what you will draw next, observe, search, always look for new ways of depicting. Search, always remaining yourself, never resting on what has been done. Reality is forever changing. Every day a new landscape in the window, things are grouped in a new way, light and space change, new, mysterious relationships arise. Flowers appear and fall. Someone brings unexpected fruits from distant lands. People pass by the window, they hang clothes in the yard, they clean carpets, they play volleyball. The rider follows from the stable to the hippodrome, birds flock for food, cars rush, something winged descends on the page. Passers-by stopped, talking (that's how they dress now!). Observe, draw, always learn new things.

In recent years, I have done little engraving, only drawing. Drawing is, after all, its own, independent field of fine arts. I would like to create finished drawings, like crystals, and most importantly - alive. But very rarely what is done pleases. Mostly I draw with a pencil (lead). Then I like to color my drawing with watercolors. This method of work, apparently, arose as a result of long engraving. The pencil often lays down like a chisel or engraving needle. Sometimes I use colored pencils. But I am not a painter, color plays a secondary role in my works. The basis, the design is the drawing. The size of the drawings (probably as a result of many years of work on the book) does not exceed the size of book pages. Everything I want to say fits on a small piece of paper. I speak softly and succinctly.

My drawings are grouped in series. The series combines either a plot - flowers, fish landscapes, interiors - or the material that I use at a given period of time: colored pencils or watercolor, torchon or whatman paper. I find it necessary to change materials from time to time, as well as the tools that I use. This is as necessary as a new plot, a new nature. I try by all means to achieve, to look for a new, lively and clear pictorial language.

My poor health from a young age, my age makes it impossible to draw people - portraits, close-ups of groups of people. In my drawings, people are most often small figures scurrying about in the distance. I see them as if through inverted binoculars. Therefore, insignificant objects, called inanimate, often appear in my drawings as a plot, a theme (for example, pharmacy glass, chairs).

People tend to perceive, limited by certain limits. The frame can be wider or narrower, but there is also depth. Working, observing, I try to extract and reveal not only the shape, weight, spatial relationships (by the way, a sheet, the surface of paper, establishes new spatial relationships), but also learn how to manage, vary them. I am trying to find and convey to the viewer's perception the poetic and philosophical essence of the depicted. I almost always find some kindness, friendliness in things. And I want to talk about it.

I recall the amazing drawings of Vrubel, idolized by one of my teacher-friends - V. D. Zamirailo - S. V. Noakovsky, S. P. Yaremich, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin. Zamirailo’s calligraphy and his admiration for Vrubel’s drawings, excellent chalk drawings on Noakovsky’s blackboard, Yaremich’s St. Petersburg drawings and his richest collection of drawings and engravings by old masters, P. D. Ettinger’s extraordinary knowledge of the works of Russian and foreign masters, conversations about art with Petrov-Vodkin (he was interested in my engravings with a metal cutter) - all this undoubtedly affected my formation as an artist.

When I look at my drawings, the most successful ones seem like strangers to me, but I feel the flaws as my own. It will be easy when you work a hundred times. I constantly remember the immortal Hokusai, the unsurpassed Mangwa. When people ask me which of my works I appreciate the most, I usually answer: those that will be done tomorrow. Because the work of a lifetime is preparing for what you will do tomorrow.”

(c) "Draw every day"
Magazine "Creativity", 1971, No. 4

“Having reached the age of ninety, an age at which only a few are able to work truly creatively, Mitrokhin continued to work tirelessly until the last day, for the meaning of his existence was concentrated for him in drawing. But perhaps the most remarkable thing is that Mitrokhin did not just work, but constantly developed as an artist. From year to year, from day to day, he was looking for "a new, lively and clear, - in his own words, - pictorial language." And he found new ways, means, forms of expression of observations, achieving in the drawing an ever more complete and deep disclosure of the ever-changing, never-repeating reality.

(c) Yu.A. Rusakov.

“In the creative life of Dmitry Isidorovich, it is not difficult to distinguish certain periods, but none of them is a closed cycle, they are all milestones of a single, long path, continuous movement towards a lofty goal. At the last stage of this path, the artist achieved extraordinary perfection, possible in rare cases. He gained complete unity of intent and means of expression. On the way to this perfection, the artist overcame such life hardships that few can handle. The disease forced him to limit himself to a small apartment for more than ten years, to refuse wide communication with people. The artist discovered an eventful life on his own desktop, in every corner of the room. He managed to feel the modern world through the objects surrounding him and tell about his life-affirming, optimistic attitude towards it.