Book Illustration Research Articles

Poetic ‘Hypertext’, Evocative ‘Figure-in-Landscape’, and the Reading of Illustrated Plays in the Late Ming

Abstract Scholars of late Ming print culture have noted a ‘scenic’ shift in book illustrations of the late Wanli period. But how did the ‘scenic’ style vary across different genres of books, and what impact did such variations have on reading? This article examines a series of drama illustrations attributed to the Hangzhou publisher Rongyu tang (RYT), and explores the RYT’s subtle reconfigurations of the relationships between figures, landscapes, and poetic captions to produce new experiences of reading plays. I argue that the RYT developed its own repertoire of ‘figures-in-landscape’ that, while intersecting with visual motifs in a wide range of paintings and prints, distinguish themselves through the fine-tuning of the relative size of figure to landscape and the integrating of poetic ‘hypertexts’. Through close examination of three figure types – traveler, fisherman, and female performer – in landscape, I show that the images gave rise to a poetically recollective, visually evocative, and culturally contextualized mode of reading that appealed to varying levels of knowledge and interests. They afforded readers the flexibility to immerse themselves in the atmosphere or emotions of select scenes, to reflect on the overarching themes of the plays, or to take an imaginative flight out of drama to appreciate the images’ broader poetic and visual associations.

The Peculiarity of Nikolai Kochergin’s Creative Method in Illustrations to Chinese Fairy Tales

The article is devoted to the study of the creative heritage of Nikolai Mikhailovich Kochergin (1897—1974) in the field of illustrating Chinese fairy tales. The relevance of the topic is conditioned by the insufficient degree of study of the artist’s heritage in this area with the general interest of practitioners and art theorists in book illustration for children’s literature in the 20th century.The aim of the article is to theoretically comprehend the artistic heritage of N.M. Kochergin on the basis of revealing the originality of the artist’s creative method of illustrating Chinese fairy tales. The following tasks are solved: to trace the creative path of N.M. Kochergin, in particular, his work in the field of illustrating literature of Eastern and Asian countries; to make a list of illustrated editions of Asian fairy tales by the artist; to reveal the influence of traditions of Chinese Gohua art on the artist’s work, specifically to study the compositional solution, the use of diffused perspective, other expressive means; to analyze the methods of stylization of images and symbols of Chinese culture and folklore in illustrations.The presented research allows not only to determine the originality of N.M. Kochergin’s creative method of illustrating Chinese fairy tales, but also to identify the specificity of representation of Chinese culture for Russian readers. This problematic can contribute to the emergence of a holistic view of the synthesis and integration of Chinese art and culture in the Russian and world artistic process. The article studies illustrations by N.M. Kochergin for such editions of Asian fairy tales as “Chinese Folk Tales” (1953), “Ten Little Friends” (1954), “The Yellow Stork and the Mountain of the Sun” (1954), “The Liu Brothers” (1955), “Persistent Yun Su” (1955), “Fairy Tales of the Peoples of Asia” (1959).

The Conjuring Girdles of King Solomon and Doctor Faustus in Early Modern Material Magic

Abstract The article concerns conjuring girdles in early modern material magic, particularly in Central Europe during the long eighteenth century (c. 1660–c. 1820). Magicians in ritual circles could wear such girdles on the body as belts or sashes to conjure and command angels, spirits, and demons. Emphasis in the article is on anonymous German manuscript books of learned magic dating from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, with pseudepigraphal attributions to King Solomon and Doctor Faustus. These manuscripts explain the design, text, imagery, materials, measurements, production, and applications of conjuring girdles. The article also discusses what is known about their compilers, end-users, and readers during a period marked by hybridizing, variability, and democratization in material magic. The article includes three illustrations in books of learned magic with designs for conjuring girdles (Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Ms. Hist. Nat. 80; Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Mag. 6 [no. 51]; Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek, Cod. Mag. 133 [no. 27]); and two conjuring scenes from the legends of Doctor Faustus and his apprentice Christoph Wagner.

The characters of fairy tales in the children's book illustration: a dragon and a witch

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On the Transformation and Characteristics of Aesthetic Practice in the Ming Dynasty

Traditional Chinese social concepts have always been controlled and constrained by the thinking of “wén yǐ zài dào”(Literature Is the Vehicle of Ideas, in Chinese “文以载道”), but the so-called “wén yǐ zài dào”(Literature Is the Vehicle of Ideas, in Chinese “文以载道”) here is an extremely generalized concept. The “wén” (literature, in Chinese “文”) here can refer to any kind of material carrier, image or action. In short, it is a material presentation related to the physical world. The “dào” (Tao, in Chinese “道”) here refers to any kind of spiritual essence. In the view of traditional Chinese literati, the form must be loaded with a certain spiritual essence in order to have meaning. Through the study of the visual arts of the Ming Dynasty (明代), we will find that in the Ming Dynasty (明代), no matter the presentation of various objects such as clothing, furniture, book illustrations and literati painting or physical activities such as entertainments and travels have already broken away from the thinking mode of “wén yǐ zài dào” (Literature Is the Vehicle of Ideas, in Chinese “文以载道”). Not only has the aesthetic form separated from its core and existed independently, but the form has also begun to develop in the direction of expansion.

“The Oval Portrait” on Art and Art on “The Oval Portrait”: A Case Study of Ekphrasis and Book Illustration

This article explores the relationship between ekphrasis and book illustration. To this aim, it analyses Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Oval Portrait” and compares it with three different renditions in painting made by Jean-Paul Laurens, Arthur Rackham and Santiago Caruso. After some theoretical considerations to clarify what is understood by ekphrasis, this paper proves how it is possible to understand “The Oval Portrait” as an example of ekphrastic literature. From this standpoint, and drawing from secondary literature on how the vampiric undertones of the short story explore the relationship between art and life, I analyse how the relationship between art and literature is portrayed in the story. These notions lead to the analysis on how the tale’s topic and its ekphrastic nature have influenced the way in readers’ engage with the story and how it is depicted by book illustrators.

Art, illusion, and recycled images in Johannes Pauli’s anecdotes on painters

This article considers selected book illustrations that were published in the 1530s by Augsburg printer Heinrich Steiner. It compares Steiner’s choice of images for Schimpff und Ernst (1534), a popular anthology of entertaining and serious anecdotes compiled by the Franciscan preacher Johannes Pauli, with woodcuts that Steiner had previously employed in newly translated, moral–philosophical texts by Cicero and Petrarch. Although all three texts problematize the art of painting according to classical and medieval narratives, which urge caution in viewing lifelike images, each proposes diverse solutions for regarding illusionistic works of art. Whereas prior studies focus on the intentions of individual authors, this article highlights the printer–publisher’s agency. One image recycled in disparate works speaks to art’s multifaceted functions for upper-class, lay readers. This article argues that Steiner’s selection of images inserts Pauli’s chapter on artists and illusionistic painting into ongoing debates in Reformation-era Germany about the proper role of images in religious ritual. This cross-reading of image–text pairings in the early 1530s offers insights into the complexity of period attitudes towards visual art, the painter’s profession, and the beholder’s responsibilities.

Developing Big Books to Improve Young Learners' Vocabulary Acquisition

Teaching vocabulary for EFL young learners always challenges the teacher. The researchers have investigated the condition of SD Islam Pojok 2 Kediri and found that the school only provided modules in the English class, so researchers aim to develop a medium called a big book. This study is research and development, adapted from Dick and Carey and modified by Sugiono into seven steps: need analysis, designing, expert validation, revision I, try-out, revision II, and evaluation. The researchers collected the data through observation, interview, and documentation, then analyzed it using content and narrative analysis techniques. The results of the study showed that there are four topics to assemble the big books, namely daily activity, jobs, tourism places, and food. The expert validation reveals that three big books have been eligible for use, and one needs to be revised. In the try-out process, it was found that the teacher and students liked the story and illustrations of the big books. It helps the students gain new vocabulary and strengthen their existing vocabulary. To sum up, developing big books to improve young learners’ vocabulary acquisition has been successful.

St. Petersburg through Venetian Eyes: An Episode in Late Eighteenth-Century Book Illustration

This article analyzes a print that was published in Venice in 1797 as the opening image to a biography of Catherine II. Certainly prepared during the empress’s life, the publication appeared just months after her death in a watershed year for Europe which saw the fall of the Republic of Venice. The print imagines the moment that Peter the Great founded the new city of St. Petersburg over ninety years earlier. Through an exploration of the carefully constructed messages in the print, this paper examines the legacy of the image of Peter in Western Europe against which Catherine was understood. It considers the imagery of St. Petersburg in relation to Venice: the capitals of two empires, one in its ascendency and one at the point of collapse.

Autobiographical motifs in the "silent books" of contemporary Chinese artists (using the example of Sean Tan and Guojin)

The object of the study is “silent books” – books without text; the plot and author’s position are revealed exclusively through a sequential series of illustrations. The subject of the study is the graphic novels of young but already internationally recognized authors – Sean Tan and Guojin. "Silent books" are a relatively new direction in children's book illustration. The prototype of “silent books” – comics – was distinguished by rather primitive graphics, so although they were popular, but they were considered a “low genre” in the professional community. Then the comic went beyond kitsch culture and became an element of middle-class culture, and at the end of the century the comic was reinterpreted in pop art and included in the formation of neo-elite culture. The individuality of the authors is manifested in the choice of a plot related to personal and family history, as well as in the choice of a character of a certain psychological make-up – “silent heroes”, endowed with a rich imagination, the ability to empathize and equal friendly relationships. The technique in the “silent books” of Sean Tan and Guojin has the syncretism and dualism of Western and Chinese traditions. It can be interpreted both in terms of Chinese writing with “dry” ink, and in the European style of “chiaroscuro”; in all cases we had clearly defined contour and a sharp contrast of light and shadow. The author's self-expression in a graphic novel is very specific to book illustration. “The Quiet Book” can be considered as a special type of author’s utterance, similar to improperly direct speech in literature. All this distinguishes the graphic novels under consideration from other forms of children's book illustration, as an example of new paths in art, as well as an original and modern interpretation of social problems of society.

Рец. на кн.: Marina Balina, Sergei Oushakine (eds.). The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children. Toronto; Buffalo, NY; L.: University of Toronto Press, 2021. XX+548 p.

The reviewed book The Pedagogy of Images: Depicting Communism for Children, edited by Marina Balina and Sergei Oushakine, is dedicated to Soviet children’s book illustrations of the 1920s–1930s, which had an ideological function. The introduction and sixteen chapters written by different authors demonstrate a variegated picture in which there is a place for avant-garde artistic experiments, educational projects and discussions about children’s books. Illustrations for books that were not related to politics did not come into the focus of attention of the authors of the collection, but nevertheless the coverage of the material is very wide. Different chapters examine how paper, nature, electricity, vezdekhodnost (goeverywhereness), time, the death of Lenin, the Red Army, the proletariat, and “Americanism” were represented in children’s illustrations. Due to involvement of many researchers, the book presents different approaches and methods of visual analysis borrowed from visual studies, art criticism, and history. Not all the authors are convincing in their analysis, but the publication of this collection is undoubtedly an important event in this field of study, even though illustrations for children of the 1920s and 1930s are well-studied.

Flower or leaf characteristics, coloured or black and white illustrations – what helps student teachers to identify plants?

ABSTRACT For a sound understanding of biological diversity, it is not only important to identify species and recall their names, but to be able to distinguish between organisms based on a range of characteristic traits. However, whether flower or leaf characteristics are more important in identifying plant species and whether colour illustrations in identification books are more helpful than black and white ones is largely unexplored. With the help of a mobile eye-tracking device and pictures from two plant identification books, this study aimed to contribute to filling this knowledge gap. Thirty student teachers, all undergraduates in biology, were shown two freshly picked wildflowers (Medicago sativa and Echium vulgare) and asked to select the corresponding illustration from each of four plants on an identification sheet, which was either in colour or in black and white. For both plants, the number of fixations, and positively correlated fixation duration, were significantly higher for the flower than the leaf part. Although flowers and leaves were fixated longer and more frequently in the black-and-white illustrations, correct identifications were more likely with the coloured identification sheets. The results indicate that colour illustrations and sorting by flower characteristics are particularly helpful in identification aids for undergraduate students.

A Handlist of Illustrated Early Solomonic Manuscripts in British Public Collections

As material objects bearing textual and visual information, illustrated Christian manuscripts from the Horn of Africa are among the most valuable sources of data for scholars specializing in this field. This article is the second handlist produced within the framework of the AHRC-DFG project Demarginalizing medieval Africa: Images, texts, and identity in Early Solomonic Ethiopia (1270– 1527). It focuses on illustrated Early Solomonic manuscripts housed in public libraries in the United Kingdom. This is the first time that this body of illuminations has been comprehensively analysed. The resulting work sheds new light on the history of book illustration in Early Solomonic Ethiopia and provides insights into the connected histories of the Christian empire of the Ethiopian-Eritrean highlands and the wider Mediterranean world. Moreover, it showcases the movements of manuscripts and the development of collections of Gǝʿǝz manuscripts in Europe.

Centenary Paper: Laboratory for Experimentation: Iberian Fiction Translated into French (1525–1550)

The translation of early Iberian fiction into French had a transformative impact on the learning of vernacular languages and printing. This article explores the impact of Iberian fiction (1525–1550) on the French literary panorama of the mid-sixteenth century. It analyses how the translation of novelas sentimentales and libros de caballerías offered a laboratory for experimentation in three main areas. First, Iberian fiction provided an opportunity for translators to translate directly from Castilian. The translations of Iberian fiction were also an opportunity to promote the French vernacular through the adoption of roman typefaces for the printing of vernacular material. Finally, Iberian fiction translated into French played a key role in the development of book illustration. These innovations would have long-lasting consequences.

Three pillars of national art – Igor Vieru, Ilia Bogdesco, Mihail Petric – 100 years since their birth

The article is focused on the creation of three plastic artists from the Republic of Moldova, who would have celebrated their centenary this year – Igor Vieru (1923-1988), Ilia Bogdesco (1923-2010), Mihail Petric (1923-2005). Their contribution is a significant one for national art, each one leaving a considerable mark in the field and genre they work. Several aspects and factors of the creative process of each individual artist are mentioned in the article. The thematic topics addressed are described, the components of the plastic language used in the process of creating a work of art, and the types of plastic and technical realization of the works are revealed. In their creation there is a coexistence of traditional and innovative elements in the plastic treatment of works of art. Depending on the historical period, the illustrative-realistic vision in painting (I. Vieru, M. Petric) is replaced by a decorative one, inspired by Romanian plastic folklore and the aesthetic concepts of modern European art (post-impressionism, Fauvism, etc.). In the creation of the graphic artist Ilie Bogdesco, who prefers a „classic” work technique, technical procedures and stylistic features not specific to contemporary national graphics are encountered. He practices calligraphy in book illustration and develops a new author’s technique, based on the text from the national medieval miniatures. Poets in soul and philosophers in thought, the celebrated artists remain trailblazers for the plastic arts in the Republic of Moldova, who have le¡ a unique spiritual trail in their track record.

Leonid Shvartsman: An Artistic Reading of the Petersburg Tales by Nikolai Gogol

This article analyses little-known works by artist L. A. Shvartsman (1920–2022) based on the Petersburg Tales by N. V. Gogol. The works from private collections created in 1953–1956 did not attract the attention of researchers at the time, whereas the appeal to the characters of The Overcoat, Portrait, and Nevsky Prospekt was an important stage for Shvartsman in the formation of a personal artistic programme. His studies at the art school at the All-Union Academy of Arts (1937–1941) determined his attitude to classical art and influenced the emotional perception of St Petersburg. The atmosphere of the “thaw” contributed to the master’s appeal to the unsettled life of a “little man”, defenceless in the face of power and a rude crowd. Having achieved fame as an animation film production designer by the mid‑1950s, Shvartsman sought to build his own system of translating verbal language into visual language outside the film production system, independently solving the creative tasks set. By calling his works “illustrations”, the master did not mean a book illustration, for which it is necessary to initially think over the design and style of the publication. The artist went from full-scale sketches, developed colouristic approaches and strove for the self-sufficiency of each work, hence the noticeable easel character of his works. At the same time, they also have expressive images inherent in sketches of animated films, stylised figures, a sense of action that logically develops and is predicted. The artist approached Gogol’s text selectively, focusing on the life and characters of the heroes, on the originality of the St Petersburg environment. He is interested in the image of Akaky Akakievich, moderately funny and ridiculous, but attractive in his fixation on rewriting papers – a matter which he treats with inspiration, with full dedication. Shvartsman did not want to dramatise situations, avoided climaxes, being satisfied with fixing the temptations of life, which, in the end, would lead the characters to a sad ending. In the process of artistic reading of the Petersburg Tales, Shvartsman not only developed expressive images and compositions, but also built his own creative worldview with moral guidelines and rules.

Development of Pop-up Book Illustrations as Educational Media for Child Reproductive Health

The incidence of sexual crimes against children and the prevalence of health-risk behaviors resulting from a lack of reproductive health education media have been identified from an early age as problems that must be followed up immediately. Instilling conception from an early age in children regarding reproductive health education, which is still taboo in most Indonesian societies, is an indication of research achievements that are relevant to be applied in social sciences and humanity. This research aims to test the feasibility of the pop-up book with the title “Yours” (Reproductive Health Education Book) for the age group of children over 6 years. The research method applied in this study is the research and development (R&D) method with the 4D flow (define, design, development, and dissemination). The pop-up book product with the title Pop Up Yours is a product created by the author and has never been tested for feasibility before. The results showed that the Pop Up Book “Yours” can be a medium for reproductive health education in children with the results of testing on 30 children(n=30) aged 9 years, an increase in knowledge of 93.3% was observed. Based on the results of the feasibility test, it can be seen that the “Yours” Pop Up Book is suitable for use by groups of children over 6 years old with the important concern of using this pop-up book under parental guidance.
 Keywords: pop-up book, child, reproductive health

Super Bodies: Comic Book Illustration, Artistic Styles, and Narrative Impact by Jeffrey A. Brown (review)

Super Bodies: Comic Book Illustration, Artistic Styles, and Narrative Impact by Jeffrey A. Brown (review)

On the Diversified Performance of Modern Picture Book Illustration Design

Picture books, as a form of cultural communication in daily life, have subtly influenced all aspects of people's lives and all walks of life. People also continue to research, develop and innovate in the creation of picture books. Picture books have opened up a more diversified way of reading for today's society, which helps people have a clearer understanding of graphic expressions. In today's daily life, there are many details that people do not pay attention to in the design of picture book illustrations, can be a good design element, can make the picture book creation closer to daily life, better portray the appearance of things, to give people a sense of immersive experience. Both can convey the author's thoughts and ideas, but also can increase the affinity and beauty of the picture. The development of modern picture book illustration design requires the efforts of countries all over the world. In the face of the problems of domestic picture book design, the illustration design methods of foreign modern picture books can also provide certain inspiration and help.

Unpublished Counterpublics: H. T. Tsiang’s Ellis Island Poems

Abstract The proletarian writer H. T. Tsiang worked and lived in the US under the constant threat of deportation since arriving in the country under the Johnson-Reed Act. This article examines a cache of poetry that Tsiang wrote in the Ellis Island detention center from 1940–1941 and mailed to the painter, book illustrator, and author Rockwell Kent. These poems, which are preserved among Kent’s papers in the form of a toilet paper manuscript, a make-shift chapbook, and typescript sheafs, were roundly rejected by publishers in Tsiang’s time. Yet they speak to his precarious immigration status and his long-term project of constituting proletarian readerships outside US publishing. Tsiang’s unpublished poems, I argue, composed a counterpublic of early Chinese American writing that grew from, and responded to, the conditions of exclusion.Having been detained on both Angel Island and Ellis Island, Tsiang was willing to take the “crooked path” into US cultural memory.