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Seven Wonders: Favorsky—Marshak
Bulgakov Museum
2008
2008
Moscow’s book illustration of the 1920s is best known for two major movements: Constructivism and the woodcut school of Vladimir Favorsky. While some artists from these movements occasionally worked on children’s books, the genre often remained peripheral to their main creative pursuits—a side project rather than a central focus.
For example, Vladimir Favorsky, the leading master of the Moscow wood engraving school, wrote a significant theoretical article in 1926 on the unique challenges of illustrating children’s books. Yet he rarely applied his findings in practice. One striking exception is his expressive series of color woodcuts for Samuil Marshak’s poem "Seven Wonders" (1929), which remained unpublished until 1970.
This exhibition brought together Favorsky’s woodcuts with real objects referenced in Marshak’s poem. In the 1920s, these objects—a typewriter, a tram, a locomotive, a newspaper—were presented as riddles and could indeed seem wondrous, especially to children for whom even something like a matchstick was unfamiliar. Encircling the everyday world, these items became wonders of the past, seen anew through the lens of poetic memory.
Designed with children in mind, the exhibition was hosted in the "Kitchen" space of the Bulgakov Communal Apartment.
For example, Vladimir Favorsky, the leading master of the Moscow wood engraving school, wrote a significant theoretical article in 1926 on the unique challenges of illustrating children’s books. Yet he rarely applied his findings in practice. One striking exception is his expressive series of color woodcuts for Samuil Marshak’s poem "Seven Wonders" (1929), which remained unpublished until 1970.
This exhibition brought together Favorsky’s woodcuts with real objects referenced in Marshak’s poem. In the 1920s, these objects—a typewriter, a tram, a locomotive, a newspaper—were presented as riddles and could indeed seem wondrous, especially to children for whom even something like a matchstick was unfamiliar. Encircling the everyday world, these items became wonders of the past, seen anew through the lens of poetic memory.
Designed with children in mind, the exhibition was hosted in the "Kitchen" space of the Bulgakov Communal Apartment.
Curator & Exhibition Design
Aleksandra Selivanova
Research
Ivan Nazarov
Nadezhda Plungyan
Installation
Irina Bokun
Aleksandra Selivanova
Research
Ivan Nazarov
Nadezhda Plungyan
Installation
Irina Bokun
