Victor Zamirailo

Graphic artist, painter, theatrical designer, illustrator, teacher. Studied at the Nikolai Murashko School of Drawing in Kiev (1881–86). Helped Mikhail Vrubel to restore frescoes in St Cyril’s Church (1883–84) and collaborated with Victor Vasnetsov on the frescoes for St Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev (1895–90). Lived and worked in St Petersburg (from 1904) and Moscow (from 1907). Member of the Union of Russian Artists (from 1904) and the World of Art (from 1911). Worked on the Capricci series of drawings (1908–21). Collaborated with Pavel Kuznetsov, Pyotr Utkin and Alexander Matveyev on the design and decoration of collector Jacob Zhukovsky’s villa and park at his estate of Novy Kuchuk-Koi in the Crimea (1909–14). Illustrated books for Ivan Sytin and Joseph Knebel, including Alexei Afanasiev’s Russian Folk Tales (1912–14). Designed the sets for performances of Anton Rubinstein’s opera The Demon (1919) and Nikolai Tcherepnin’s ballet Narcisse et Echo (1921). Illustrated such works of children’s literature as Kornei Chukovsky’s Jack the Giant Killer (1917), Alexei Tolstoy’s As If Nothing Had Happened (1924), Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (mid-1920s) and James Greenwood’s The True History Of A Little Ragamuffin (1929). Lost his sight and died alone at an old people’s home in Peterhof (1939). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1896). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1896–98), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1904–11), Union of Russian Artists (1908) and the World of Art (1911–24).