Gennady Spirin (born 25 December 1948) is a Russian
painter and children's book
illustrator. A graduate of the
Surikov School of Fine Art in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
and the Moscow Stroganov Institute of Art, he is noted for his unique style of
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
illustration. He has illustrated works by classic authors such as
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
,
Anton Chekhov and
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
as well as children's books by contemporary celebrities. He is perhaps best known for his illustration of
Madonna's ''
Yakov and the Seven Thieves
''Yakov and the Seven Thieves'' is a picture book written by American entertainer Madonna. It was released on June 21, 2004, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment in over 110 countries and 38 different languages, including a Braille edition. The b ...
'' and
Julie Andrews' ''Simeon's Gift''. His oil paintings hang in public and private galleries throughout the world. He has been profiled by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. His depiction of ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchai ...
'' was selected by
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...
as the centerpiece of their famous Christmas display in 1997 and 1998. Following the dissolution of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
in 1992, Spirin immigrated with his wife and sons to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, ultimately settling in
Princeton, NJ, where he has lived and worked since.
References
External links
Official websiteGennady Spirinat
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spirin, Gennady
1948 births
Living people
20th-century Russian painters
Russian male painters
21st-century Russian painters
Russian children's book illustrators
20th-century illustrators of fairy tales
21st-century illustrators of fairy tales
20th-century Russian male artists
21st-century Russian male artists