Come back to us, McLay!

Author: Oleg Orlov

Publisher: TriMag

Pages: 48 (Offset)

Weight: 344 g

Dimensions: 295x190x9 mm

ISBN: 978-5-901666-07-4

This was in the 19th century - the extraordinary adventures of the great Russian scientist and traveler N.N. Miklouho-Maclay among the Papuans of New Guinea. Having lived among the natives for several years, he earned their trust and even their love. It was he, the first of the European scientists, who managed to thoroughly study and describe the life and way of life of the Papuans, their language and customs.

Oleg Orlov wrote fascinatingly about the friendship of the Russian scientist and the wild people, and the magnificent illustrations by the famous artist Vadim Ivanyuk create the impression that they too were there, on the distant island, next to Miklouho-Maclay. This book is for everyone, from the very young to... It will be interesting for everyone who is drawn by adventures and discoveries, unfamiliar countries, mysterious continents!

Vadim Vasilyevich Ivanyuk was born in Kerch. After serving in the army, he entered the Moscow Polytechnic Institute. Even during his studies at the Faculty of Art and Graphics, the young artist began to collaborate with Moscow publishing houses. His works could be seen more and more often at Moscow book fairs and exhibitions. Ivanyuk also exhibited abroad with no less enthusiasm.

The artist has illustrated more than 50 books over the past quarter of a century. There are many rare books in his creative biography - "Denis Davydov. Selected Works", "Russian Glory", "Works of Mikhail Dmitrievich Chulkov", "H.C. Andersen. Fairy Tales" and many others.

Vadim Ivanyuk also collaborated with the most prestigious children's magazines in the capital. Judging by the impressive list of illustrations for children's books, the artist's favorite genres have always been European literary fairy tales and cheerful playful poetry.

Vadim Ivanyuk's illustrations for the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, H.C. Andersen, and F. Baum, for the fairy stories and cheerful poems of Daniil Kharms, Samuil Marshak, or contemporary Russian writers who lean towards the European tradition - Grigory Kruzhkov, Viktor Lunin, Marina Boroditskaya - are executed with a light pen, delicately tinted with watercolor, and rich in the smallest details.

Looking at Vadim Ivanyuk's drawings, one recalls Vladimir Konashevich's statement: "...In my drawings, form is simplified almost to the limit, color is reduced to three or four pure colors, so everything is clear and distinct."

Often, to show an object in full, Ivanyuk whimsically turns the image: then the eye can encompass all its necessary features. As if to satisfy a child's legitimate curiosity, the artist may compromise the unity of time and space, combining sequentially occurring events and actions in one drawing. But he does not forget that the categories of time and space are relative concepts for a child, entirely subject to their will.

The romantic Vadim Ivanyuk clearly prefers the fairy-tale reality to everyday life. There are many birds and animals in his illustrations, their images are slightly caricatured, their silhouettes outlined with an ironic stroke of the pen. And perhaps not by chance among the solid list of books illustrated by the artist, works with animals in leading roles often appear.

Vadim Ivanyuk's delicate and ironic, exquisite and slyly mischievous drawings are memorable at first sight. His works are imbued with a certain softness, delicacy, elegance, and at the same time, a fully tangible authorial position.