Sunday Safari - Haunted House

Theatre poster by Stasys Eidrigevicius, 1990

Willibald Krain, Gerüchte (Rumour) from Krieg, 1916

Illustration by Alberto Martini for The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe

Liz Mamont, Nursery

Domenico Gnoli

Dusan Kallay

Francesco Balsamo, Gruppo di gufi in un interno

Pia Valentinis, illustration for Poe's The murders in the Rue Morgue 

Pierre Roy, Danger on the Stairs, 1927, thanks to Weimar

Jaroslav Serych, illustration for Tales of the Uncanny, 1976, and

John Buckland Wright, illustration for Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum, 1932, 

thanks to 50 Watts

Nicola Bailey

 Moki

John Kenn

Strange Relics

Animalia Exstinta is a fascinating imaginary bestiary 

featuring beautiful surrealist collages by Hugo Horita 

and humorous descriptive texts by Esteban Seimandi. 

This elegant volume was designed by Juan Cruz Bazterrica,

and published by the Argentinian Ediciones Tres en línea in 2010.

Bicho Taladro

Armadillo Labrado

Grillo Bebop

Pez Pollo

Pulpo a la Gallega

Trucha Mascardi

Vitrolita de Corrientes

View the book's layout and more images at Issuu

The Toy Collector

The Russian Folk Toy. Part 1. Clay Dolls from Vyatka, Moscow, 1929

Today we travel back to Russia, its fantastic artists and popular traditions.

I discovered Denshin's work during my Soviet-related virtual explorations, and everything 

about it immediately attracted me: the subject, the history, the illustrations, and especially 
the author's dedication to his passion. Various web searches resulted in these images and 
informations, mostly gathered from craft and antique book sellers' websites. Enjoy!

Aleksei Ivanovich Denshin (1893-1948) was a painter, graphic artist, illustrator and author. 

He was also part of a group of Russian artists who in the late 1800s began to appreciate and

study provincial folk toys as a traditional art form. Other serious collectors were 

Georgii Narbut, Ivan Bilibin, Alexandre Benois and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. For over twenty years, 

the objects of Denshin's fascination were Dymkovo clay toys from the Vyatka region.

Dymkovo toys, also known as Vyatka or Kirov toys, are moulded painted clay figures traditionally 

made by women in the form of birds, horses, horseriders, ladies and other people and animals. 

This ancient Russian folk art originates from magic ritual images and agricultural calendar holidays.

During spring festivities, clay penny whistles were crafted and then placed on window-sills.

 In time the little figures lost their magic meaning and turned into children toys. Until the 20th century, 

the toy production was timed to the spring fair called свистунья, or whistler, an event believed to 

have existed for some 400 years, thus dating the history of Dymkovo toy at least from the 17th century.

In the late 19th century the Dymkovo handicraft was forced out of the market by factory-made 

moulded plaster statuettes, but thanks also to Denshin's work it was revived during Soviet times. 

In 1933, an artel called Вятская игрушка (The Vyatka Toy) was organized, which would turn into a 

workshop of the Artistic Fund of the RSFSR. These days, Dymkovo toys are a popular Russian souvenir 

(the ones pictured above come from ArtLib.ru).

Dymkovo toys are hand molded from a mixture of local red clay and river sand. 

After its various parts are fastened together with liquid clay, the toy is dried, 

fired in a furnace and whitewashed with chalk diluted in milk. Finally it is painted 

in tempera with bright geometric patterns and decorated with gold leaf accents. 

In case you are inspired to create your own clay toy,

I've run across two websites that teach the craft, here and here. 

In 1917, the same year of the the February and October Russian revolutions,

 Denshin published Viatskaïa bliniannaïa igrouchka v rissounkakh, the first illustrated catalogue 

of clay toys from the Vyatka region.The book features fifty plates hand-colored by the author and 

lithographic text printed in sepia from his calligraphy (note the cutout illustration pasted on the cover). 

 The colored plates were cut and glued to the pages. In his introduction, the author apologizes for the book's 

quality and notes that he colored the plates by hand because conditions in Moscow at the time prevented
 printing in color. Denshin was able to produce only 300 copies of the volume, which is now part 

of the Russian State Library hall of rare books and sells on the web for 2600 €.

In 1926, the early hand-colored catalogue served as the basis for a new edition of 200 copies. 

 Finally, in 1929 The Russian Folk Toy. Part 1. Clay Dolls from Vyatka was published in Moscow,

 a larger print run with 16 color lithographs and a cover designed by Sergei Chekhonin.

Despite the notice on the wrapper and title page, a second volume was never produced. 

Polish Papers

One of the folk crafts that I love the most is decorative papercutting,

an art form which has evolved into various unique styles in different areas of the world. 

From Chinese Jan Zhi to Swiss and German Scherenschnitte, to Mexican Papel Picado,

I enjoy them all, and hope in time to feature each style on Animalarium.

Image from the beautiful Polish blog Cebrita.

Polish Wycinanki is one of the most colorful and charming papercutting traditions.

They became popular around the mid-1800's, and were used by peasants 

to decorate the whitewashed walls, furniture and wooden ceiling beams of their cottages, 

or to give as gifts. The intricate decorations are formed by multiple layers of colored paper 

which are folded, cut, torn, and sometimes embossed to create stylized patterns. 

The subjects represented are peacocks, roosters and other birds, 

as well as flowers and annual festivities. 

Styles vary by region; the most basic is the single color tradition from the Kurpie district.

The multicolor Lowicz Wycinanki developed in the more prosperous region west of Warsaw. 

These elegant, elaborately cut and arranged paper overlays were displayed tandem style 

over the windows, doorways, and walls of rural homes.  

image from Lowicz Wycinanki gallery at www.perfekt.krakow.pl

Design from Kickcan and Conkers.

One of the few books about Wycinanki available on amazon. 

A contemporary Wycinanki inspired decoration by Grzegorz Wacławek

from Lou et Tom, a lovely blog about the adventures of a French family in Poland.

 Wycinanki Bird Cards at Pressbound.

A Gathering of Birds by Wycinanki artist Susan L. Throckmorton 

 Typographic Wycinanki illustration at Cebrita.