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Vitaly Goryaev
Tens of thousands drawings, sketches, and nature studies were made by Vitaly Goryaev – one of the most well-known Soviet book graphic artists - throughout his life.
Vitaly Goryaev was born in 1910 into the family of a bank manager in Kurgan. Revolutionary events brought the family to Chita.Vitaly started drawing in early childhood. He repeatedly sent his drawings to the Transbaikalian Worker newspaper, which willingly published them.
Goryaev became an artist thanks to Vladimir Mayakovsky’s good graces. He showed his poems to Mayakovsky; however, they did not impress the famous poet, who was instead amazed by Goryaev’s drawings on the margins. “Look. You are an artist. You need to study”, said Mayakovsky.
Following the advice of Vladimir Mayakovsky, the future artist entered the Higher Art and Technical Institute, where he studied under Dmitry Moor and Vladimir Favorskii.
Vitaly Goryaev was called a Crocodile-man: from 1935 for nearly a quarter of a century he worked in the Crocodile satiric magazine as the chief artist. He was great at political caricature. His characters were easily recognizable, whereas implications did not need any explanations.
At the beginning of war Vitaly Goryaev worked in «TASS Windows». During this period he created lots of ink and water-color drawings depicting domestic scenes, people crowding at railway stations, children by ruined houses, meetings and partings. In 1942 Goryaev was sent to the frontline as the chief artist of the Front Humour newspaper. This is where he got acquainted with Tvardovsky; their friendship and collaboration continued after war.
During his work at the front line Goryaev earned the soldier's Bravery Medal– the most honored one among veterans.
Goryaev devised an entire series of illustrations to works by the classics of Russian literature – Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky. It took the artist almost 30 years to implement the grand project.
Vitaly Goryaev died in June 1982 in Moscow.
