The Bookplates of Vladimir Vereschagin III

Vereschagin is always recognizable in his diverse and original work of art. The technical sophistication cultivated by the Petersburg artists is absent in Vladimir’s work. However, obvious courage, unstoppable humour and energy, with which his art is intertwined, can leave nobody untouched; and give his miniatures the quality of monumentality and greatness. He created a number of memorial exlibris for political figures: Margaret Thatcher, G. Kohl, and Ronald Reagan. The bookplate of Huib Bongers showing Mikhail Gorbachev sitting at a chess board manipulating statesmen and people is masterfully done. Vladimir’s opuses depicting poets of “Silver Century” literary movement are crystal clear: A. Akhmatova (exlibris Luc Van den Briele) and M. Tsvetaeva (exlibris R. Enikeeva); on the theme of Bulgakov’s novels (Y. Argo), and for the great bard, B. Okudzhava.

In recent years Vereschagin has often used mythological and biblical themes: Adam and Eve (M. Hagedorn), Rape of Europa (P.A. Burggraff), Leda and the Swan (Lars Stolt), Susanna and the Elders (G. Van der Zee), The Trojan Horse (Gernot Blum), Salomea (H. Sparke), The Three Graces (G. Smith). These themes are used by the artist to emphasize the internal substance of the bookplate in relation to his vision. This is especially valued by the renowned bookplate collectors and graphic art specialists, interpreting mythological and biblical themes in the modern literature from the different angles, and so attracted by the art work of Vladimir Vereschagin.