The Art of NM Kochergin, The Russian Fairy Tale Illustrator

Whenever I would go looking for fairy tale art, I would find this artist’s work, always accompanied by Cyrillic text, and so I never knew who he was or what it meant. But the art was beautiful and magical. I’d never seen anything like it before.

After a little digging, it turns out that the artist is Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin (1897-1974), a Soviet-era Russian artist. Kochergin is considered part of the golden age of children’s illustration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, along with artists like Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Kay Nielsen, Beatrix Potter, and E. H. Shepard.

Knights & Dragons

Perhaps this is the Dobrynya Nikitich and Zmey Gorynych. As the story goes, Dobrynya’s aunt prophesizes that he will encounter the dreadful dragon, Zmey Gorynych. Dobrynya decides to face the beast and so journeys to find it.

After an arduous journey, he finds the dragon and battles it for three days. I am no fortune-teller, but even I could predict that Dobrynya would defeat the dragon and liberate the lands from its reign of terror.

Food & Feasting

Here we have a barbarian, a giant, or perhaps merely an impressively strong man. He is having a picnic, as such men so often do. He is accompanied by a woman who is either of normal size or very small. It’s unclear which. I love this illustration. There is just the right amount of detail, filled with perfectly vibrant colours.

Here is another man eating his dinner. This man appears to be of normal size, but his guests are lizards, and I cannot say why.

And, finally, we have a handsome man, a beautiful woman, and a mysterious apple. I’m not sure whether the man is taking or offering the apple. I’m unsure whether the woman is receiving it or giving it away. But she does not seem happy. The man does not seem to mind her misfortune.

Monsters, Demons & Ghosts

These illustrations are magical, but not always in a pleasant way. I love how Kochergin draws. His lines are thick and decisive but also human and imperfect, making his illustrations both serious and whimsical.

In this next illustration, it’s unclear if these women are monsters, but whenever I encounter a pair of beautiful women in the woods, I always assume they are, just in case.

Here, I’m more certain that the woman is a monster, a demon, or perhaps a ghostly apparition. She is also a giant.

Baba Yaga & the Frog Princess

This next painting may not be a woman, but it may as well be, for it is clearly as imposing as the last ones. It appears to be emerging from a barrel in a tree, surprising a nearby owl. I would be surprised, too.

Later on, we see a heroic man walking with this same woman. Perhaps she is Baba Yaga the witch. The owl has come along, too. Interestingly, we also see a frog. This is a fairy tale, so frogs tend to be princesses. Perhaps the witch turned the princess into a frog. But who is the owl?

The Hero’s Journey

Kochergin’s art is full of many heroic young men, often wielding swords, and typically going on grand journeys across rolling hills, through dark forests, and through foreign lands.

There are fair maidens, of course. This illustration is one of my favourites. Sense of scale is fantastic. I’ve never seen a horse jump so high. I’ve never seen a man so eager to kiss a beautiful woman.

Sometimes these journeys are as you’d expect them to be, on foot or on horseback.

Other times the journey is more peculiar, with the heroes riding birds or sailing in flying ships.

In the tale of the Flying Ship, the Tsar announces that he will give his daughter’s hand in marriage to the person who can build a ship that can fly. A fool, derided by his family for his dimwittedness, embarks on a journey to achieve this seemingly impossible task.

Along the way, he meets various magical and extraordinary characters with unique abilities, such as a man with incredible hearing and another with the ability to stretch his legs to great lengths. These characters join the Fool in his quest and use their talents to help him overcome obstacles.

Kochergin’s paintings add so much magic to these stories. They’re vivid and bright, conveying great distances, arduous journeys, and a sense of wonder.

Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf

And at last we have a boy riding a giant bird over a Russian palace at night. Maybe it’s the tale of Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf. In this story, the giant bird is a magical creature called the Firebird, which is a symbol of light and happiness in Russian folklore.

The tale begins with a king discovering that the golden apples from his garden are being stolen each night. Does this have something to do with the apple tree from earlier on? Regardless, the king sends his three sons, including his youngest son, Ivan, to find the thief. Ivan eventually discovers that the Firebird is said thief. As he tries to catch it, the Firebird escapes but leaves behind one of its magical feathers.

Later in the story, Ivan Tsarevich embarks on a quest to find and bring back the Firebird, during which he finds a magical horse and a beautiful princess named Helen. During his journey, Ivan encounters a wise Grey Wolf who helps him in his adventures. While Ivan does not ride the Firebird itself, he does ride the Grey Wolf, who possesses magical abilities that aid Ivan in overcoming various challenges.

On the other hand, I see no mention of Ivan riding the bird, so perhaps this is something else. Everything is in Russian, and I do not speak Russian, so this has been a somewhat difficult endeavour.