Nikolay
Ernestovich Radlov

Schedule a cartoonist. Son Of E. L. Radlov. He graduated from East.-filol. f-t of Petersburg. University (1911). He studied in the Petersburg. OH, D. Kardovsky, E. Lanceray, J. Tsionglinskogo (1909-16). Since 1913 has participated in art exhibitions. A member of about tions "World of art" (1922-24), "Gorsvet" (1925), before. hood. group "16" (1923-27). From 1918 he taught at Petrograd. (leningr.) hood. universities Professor. One of the close friends of Mikhail Bulgakov, in the apartment at Radlov was going to L. Oborin, P. Serebryakov, A. Akhmatova, Zoshchenko, A. Osmerkin and others In 1937 he moved to Moscow, from 1938 he taught in Moscow. hood. the Institute. Published in humoristic. W., master watered. cartoons. KN. ill., graphic works, portraits (including "Portrait of the poet M. Kuzmin", 1925) and other works. Articles about the problems Fig. art, graphics. The Winner Of The St. Ave. (1942).

The creative character of Nicholas Ernestovich Radlov seemed ambiguous, if not contradictory. "Classic" tastes and predilections, he devoted himself to "ephemeral" art of caricature. Theorist charts - but as a painter is not following their own theories. A Student Of D. N. Kardovsky separating the credo of a teacher, but in his own work is far from cult lines and shapes inherent in "we also" true followers of the school. Surprised by the scale of its activities, especially in Soviet times, art classes, book and magazine graphics, theater work, teaching drawing, creating portraits, paintings and graphics.

In the 20-30-ies in the first place was the work in the book and in the satirical magazines. But in the pre-revolutionary years, Rad-lov has made a name for himself in art circles not so much drawings (although his cartoons appeared in the "New Satyricon" in 1913), but articles on art published in "Apollon", "World of art", "the Argus".

In the works of Radlov these years distinctly his aesthetic preferences. At one pole is a circle "World of art" and the school D. N. Kardovsky (V. Shukhaiev, A. Yakovlev, B. Grigoriev). On the other - an alien impressionism (interpreted very loosely) and the latest trends, grouped by the term "futurism" - "dry branch lush trees art." In the article "On futurism and "World of art", books About "futurism" and "From Repin to Grigoriev" radloff argues their evaluation, using sometimes unexpected Parallels: for example, futurism converging them with the Wanderers, as both, in his opinion, inspired by the ideas napalonymi the art itself.

A specific area of interest Radlov was graphics. Article "Contemporary Russian graphics and drawing" (1913) and "Russian book graphics" (1919), the book "Contemporary Russian graphics" (1916), "Graphics" (1926) and "Drawing from nature" (1935), works on individual artists and individual problems ("a Few words about the cartoon and about the Antonov", "drawing in the children's magazine") - this is not a complete list written for this reason. The most interesting concept developed in works of the late 1910-ies.

Graphics have "thought about... phenomena" - abstract art and requires conditional language. The graph can be achieved only "stripped-down reality" and should not "convince us of its actual existence." Highlighting book graphics, radloff will take her to the field of decorative arts - based on the principles of design miriskusnicheskoy books. In his opinion, the picture in the book "should avoid realistically interpreted tonal relations, because only by emphasizing the two-dimensionality of the sheet, he can fulfill his purpose", that is to decorate the page. If the heavy pattern is recognized the right to be three-dimensional, spatial and use color in book graphics all this is inexcusable: "colorful page will ask out of the book", "book figure should avoid realistic interpretation of the image", "tone transfer forms must be expelled from the drawings of the book".

Characteristically, the book drawings Radlov do not follow these tenets - however, they were created mostly in the 30-ies, when the initial concept was largely revised. Often its leaves are made in a common manner then tone. The color they use - especially in a children's book (A. Volkov " the Wizard of oz," V. Kataev "Tsvetik-Semitsvetik", N. Happy-fishing "Stories in pictures").

However, the attitude to Radlov illustration has always been effective. On the one hand, he treated her according to the laws of easel painting ("mount illustration that she pasted into the book"), but, on the other hand, being in the book, the illustration should not only be part of the book body, that is, to gain a measure of conventionality and flatness, but also to obey the style of the text ("in the illustration... temperament of the artist should be compressed"). This last requirement radloff kept strictly, drastically changing the manner of his portrait drawings and lithographs - is enough to compare closest-in-time illustrations for Bulgakov's "Diaboliad" and "Humorous stories" Shishkov, the story by O. Forsh "Radishchev" and the stories Zoshchenko.

Another significant area radlowski classes have become a caricature. Working in the comic and children's magazines in Moscow and Leningrad ("Hippo", "Onion", "Hedgehog". "Siskin", "Crocodile"), he became one of the leading cartoonists of the country. Thoughts on the caricature expressed in the articles are smart and unexpected. Radloff considers the caricature as "the art of pure submission." "Method of cartooning is akin to Egyptian decorative art, children's drawing and art of the classical academies." Not coincidentally radloff sees the reason for the long life of the caricatures of Daumier and artists "not only" that their "small" art built on the principles of art "great shape."

The main feature of cartoons Radlov - the witty ingenuity of the plot moves. Eating mostly friends of the artist material of cultural life, they are deprived of astrometrically orientation and differ rather gentle humor. Significantly more "sting" in the series of cartoons "Funny projects" and "Happy ideas" (the author of the lyrics here were made by M. Zoshchenko): in these drawings radloff inexhaustible in the invention of fantastic designs out of objects not fulfilling their purpose. The last leaf attached to the cycle ("Autodrop"), created already in the years of the war, when the artist actively worked in the "Windows TASS" : during these years, his cartoons are really angry and sharp ("the Fruits of the fascist education", "on the question of power in Nazi Germany").

In the 20-30-ies radloff artist several shielded Rad-fishing - theoretician and art historian. Meanwhile, the scientific legacy Radlov largely determines its place in the national culture. The warehouse thinking radloff was a theorist: the specific material used as a pretext for generalizations to build holistic concepts. Under certain contradiction in the conclusions, the desire for a normative model of the development of art is present in almost each of his work. And yet, the need in the art of "Grand style" is especially pronounced in the pre-revolutionary articles. Building opposition to "analytic" and "synthetic" drawing (artist-synthetics "looking for shapes in the Treasury of his art of memory", the analyst will decompose the lines and spots his impression of nature), the researcher is essentially opposed to the subjective "experience", advocating for "style" - that is, the set of rules standing between "Creator" and "nature". "After all, it is absolutely necessary to possess to invest in it." Despite the fact that radlowski attempts to outline the area the actual graphics were quite vague (traditional division of methods and technology image he rejected), despite the fact that reasoning about the illustrations of the many confusing and controversial, his work in the theory of graphs has not lost significance today have not lost their inherent depth and sharpness of sense.