Bidspirit auction | Ushin N.A.

Ushin N.A. - Costume design of Boris Godunov for the opera ”Boris Godunov” by M.P. Mussorgsky.. Year:  1939. Technique:  Gouache, gold and bronze paint, graphite pencil, charcoal on paper. Size:  63,1х42. Descripton:  Signed and dated lower right. Expertize:  Certificate of P.M. Tretiakov Independent Research Examination.  Ushin Nikolai Alekseevich (1898, St. Petersburg - 1942, Leningrad). Soviet theater artist and book graphic artist. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts under P. A. Shillingovsky (1923-1928). In the 1920s and 1930s, he actively worked on the design of theatrical productions, developing a recognizable ”Ushinsky” style in which he creatively reinterpreted the motifs of medieval Russian painting and Palekh lacquer miniature. He is known as the creator of ex-libris and lithographs. He was particularly famous for designing the eight-volume book Tales of a Thousand and One Nights for the Academia publishing house, for which the artist was awarded a Gold Medal at the 1937 Paris Exhibition. He also designed the book ”Travels of Lemuel Gulliver” (1928). Participated in exhibitions: ”Artists of the Soviet Theater” (Moscow and Leningrad, 1935), ”Soviet Illustration in 5 years” (Moscow, 1936), ”Exhibition of the Book sign” (Kursk, 1940). N. A. Ushin's works are kept in state museums and in private collections.