To fall in love with... magazine covers

We usually buy magazines because of their content, since we are interested in a particular author, style of its texts, or the dominant topic of the publication in question. Some magazines, though, have only their front pages withstanding the test of time, while once valuable contributions about harvests and politics have gone into oblivion. Convincing examples of this phenomenon have gone on display at the “Ukrainian Tradition of Hand-Drawn Periodical Cover” exhibition, prepared by theater artists Bohdan and Olena Polishchuk. The exhibits include covers created in the late 19th century as well as most recent works.

CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE!

Close to a hundred covers have made it to the exhibition. These publications appeared in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv, but all these periodicals were designed in the Ukrainian style, and almost all are in Ukrainian. A young lady in an embroidered dress and with a solar halo around her head graces the cover of pedagogical magazine Svitlo, created in 1912 by artist Opanas Slastion. The subject of the drawing on the front page of a 1926 issue of Svit magazine is similar in some ways, as it shows a peasant woman in a splendid dress, and also with a halo; it was drawn by famous artist Olena Kulchytska. Going further, what would you say about a palm image created by artist Hovbarh out of text (there are even ‘life lines’ marked in red) and featured on the cover of literary and art magazine Zaboy, which was printed in Artemivsk, Donetsk region in 1931?

Most items, except modern periodicals, have come from the Museum of Book and Printing’s collection. The curators seek to show that the magazine cover can be an artwork. They have done a convincing job, people are captivated by works on display and fall in love with them, especially since many magazines had famous artists, like Vasyl Krychevsky, Vasyl Yermylov, Anatol Petrytsky, and Heorhii Narbut, working on their design. “When the artist works on some painting or drawing, they appeal to a relatively limited audience. The magazine, meanwhile, is a mass media outlet, and these periodicals had circulations in tens of thousands. The artist drew the picture, and it was then seen by farmers and university students. It provided a link to the wider milieu,” Bohdan Polishchuk believes.

A COSSACK WHO IS ALSO A PROLETARIAN

What do monthly Narodnoe Khozyaystvo Ukrainy, historical magazine Nashe Mynule, and Ukrainian Economic Council’s publication Solntse Truda have in common? All of them had their covers created by Narbut. Interestingly, the Cossack from Nashe Mynule’s cover looks like the proletarian from Solntse Truda. The front pages share stylistic features as well, both having finely drawn black-and-red headpieces.

An open-mouthed crank in a turban-like headgear looks at us from the cover of Universalny Zhurnal, designed by Petrytsky. This character is absolutely unlike the handsome Cossack in a thick sheepskin coat put on his bare skin, but the latter is also Petrytsky’s drawing. “The early 20th century saw the artistic community asking itself how was the Ukrainian culture different from Russian, Polish, or Austrian,” Bohdan Polishchuk told us. “They began to look for answers in the past and realized that the most prominent periods in this regard were the Ukrainian Baroque and Kyivan Rus’ ages. Therefore, the artists created a mix of contemporary modernism and avant-garde, baroque traditions and folk art.”

A LITTLE GIRL ON A TRACTOR

The heyday of the Ukrainian hand-drawn cover came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and lasted until the 1930s. From the 1940s on, the magazine designers began to actively use photos (incidentally, this technique was actively promoted by prominent artist Yermylov) and other technical “stunts.”

Publications for children have kept commissioning hand-drawn covers to this day. The artists tried to stay up-to-date here as well: for example, the cover of a 1926 issue of magazine for schoolchildren Chervoni Kvity features a quite avant-garde-looking Young Pioneer, drawn by Semen Yoffe. The artists did not forget about social realities either. Among poppies and cornflowers, one sees a little ruddy-cheeked girl driving a… tractor – this is the cover of a 1980 issue of Maliatko magazine, created by Vira Morozova.

IMAGERY FINDS FAVOR

A coquettish lady with a goat mask or a goat singing New Year greetings amid a sea of daisies – such are covers of our contemporary, independent theater magazine Koza (The Goat), created, by the way, by Bohdan Polishchuk. Next to it, the visitor can see copies of our Route No. 1, in particular ones featuring awesome indigo children living in flowers and an exquisitely drawn booklover girl. The covers of Route No. 1 are creations of artist Anna Havryliuk.

“Nobody reinvents the wheel. Each generation looks for something in the past. Narbut and Krychevsky drew upon the Baroque age of Ukraine. Contemporary artists turn to Narbut and Krychevsky,” Olena Polishchuk explained. Bohdan Polishchuk added: “For example, the covers of Route No. 1, Maliatko, Barvinok are in any case using characteristic ornamental motifs, overall composition designs. We have less narrative art here. Everything involves more signs and symbols, like the image of a girl with an Easter egg or some fantastic animals. Narbut and Krychevsky did the same in the 1920s and 1930s. The cover might include only the publication’s title and ornamental headpiece, but it was enough to create the mood and composition.”

A series of 23 postcards will be released soon, showing covers displayed at the exhibition and providing comments on the works and their authors. There is still time, though, to see these works first-hand, since the “Ukrainian Tradition of Hand-Drawn Periodical Cover” exhibition will run at the Museum of Book and Printing in Kyiv till February 28.