Nicolas Sidjakov (December 16, 1924 – June 20, 1993) was a Latvian-born Russian American commercial artist and illustrator. He was a co-founder of Sidjakov & Berman Associates and later Sidjakov, Berman & Gomez design firms.

Biography

Sidjakov was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, worked in advertising, and

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

d for the French movie industry. In 1954 he moved to the United States and continued to work in advertising. He also began to illustrate

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, mainly

picture books A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, beginning with ''The Friendly Beasts'' by Laura Nelson Baker, adapted from "

The Friendly Beasts "The Friendly Beasts" is a traditional Christmas song about the gifts that a donkey, cow, sheep, camel, and dove give to Jesus at the Nativity. The song seems to have originated in 12th-century France, set to the melody of the Latin song "Orientis ...

", an English

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

. It was published in 1957 by Parnassus Press of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. Parnassus was a

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

established only that year by Herman Schein, whose wife Ruth Robbins was a writer and illustrator. During the next several years it published at least three picture books created by Robbins, as writer, and Sidjakov. The first was '' Baboushka and the Three Kings'', retelling the "Russian

folktale A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally. Folktale may also refer to: Categories of stories * Folkloric tale from oral tradition * Fable (written form of the a ...

about an old woman's endless search for the Christ child". For that work he received the annual

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

from the American Library Association in 1961, as illustrator of the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". From 1945 to the 1970s, San Francisco was a hub of creativity and Sidjakov was in the thick of it. He designed more than he illustrated and there were many accolades for him in the advertising annuals of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1978, he and Jerry Berman formed the design firm of Sidjakov & Berman Associates, then Sidjakov, Berman & Gomez in 1981. In 1987 the company became part of the British-owned

WPP Group plc WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was the world's largest advertising company, as of 2019. WPP plc owns many compan ...

and is now known as Enterprise IG, San Francisco.''

Communication Arts ''Communication Arts'' is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.Au ...

'', May/June 2002. Sidjakov was a resident of

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

in Marin County, California, when he died in 1993.

Selected works

;Picture books illustrated * ''The Friendly Beasts'', written by Laura Nelson Baker (Berkeley, CA: Parnassus Press, 1959) – adapted from "

", * '' Baboushka and the Three Kings'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1960) – adapted from

Russian folklore Folklore of Russia is folklore of Russians and other ethnic groups of Russia. Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales. Epic Russian bylinas are also an important ...

, "Baboushka and the Three Kings"

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. Retrieved 2014-07-26. Internally the note quotes a ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'' review: "The strikingly effective pictures are distinctive in design and rich in color." * ''The Emperor and the Drummer Boy'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1962) – published simultaneously in French, the Emperor is

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, * ''Harlequin and Mother Goose, or, The Magic Stick'', Ruth Robbins (Parnassus, 1965) – based on English

Harlequinade ''Harlequinade'' is a British comic theatrical genre, defined by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th cent ...

, * ''A Lodestone and a Toadstone'', Irene Elmer (

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, 1969), * ''Staffan: an old Christmas folk song'', translated from Swedish (Parnassus, 1970),

References

External links

Nicolas Sidjakov Papers
at CLRC, University of Minnesota – with biographical sketch

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidjakov III, Nicolas American children's book illustrators American graphic designers Caldecott Medal winners Soviet expatriates in France Artists from Riga 1924 births 1993 deaths Soviet emigrants to the United States Artists from San Francisco

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

External links