The Traugot art dynasty

The Marble Palace pays homage to a family of artists from St. Petersburg.

By Tatyana Sochiva

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: September 5, 2012 (Issue # 1725)

RUSSIAN MUSEUM ‘In the Artist’s Workshop’ (1970s) by head of the family Georgy Traugot.

A new exhibit at the State Russian Museum celebrates one of St. Petersburg’s most illustrious families of artists: The Traugot family.

The St. Petersburg family is known foremost for the book illustrations by brothers Alexander (1931-present) and Valery Traugot (1936-2009). They illustrated more than 400 books, including the works of Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Bulgakov, Vladimir Nabokov and many other authors, totaling about 80 million copies.

The goal of this exhibit is not, however, to show their famed illustrations, but to explore the idea of the Traugot family unity and continuity. For this purpose, the exposition brings together about 200 works by four artists: Paintings, sculpture and porcelain by the aforementioned brothers, watercolor landscapes by their father Georgy (1903-1961) and city landscapes, still life and portraits by his wife Vera Yanova (1907-2004). Many of these works have never been shown before.

According to Natalia Kozyreva, head of the department of drawings and watercolors at the Russian Museum, the cyclical composition of the exposition reflects the concept of a family circle. The beginning and end of the exhibit are comprised of the creative oeuvre of Alexander and Valery, while two central parts are justly devoted to Georgy, head of the household and the principal teacher of his sons, who created their first book illustrations together with their father and used the abbreviation GAV (the initial letters of all of their names) even after his death.

Nevertheless, the star of the exhibit is their mother, a little-known painter whose pictures are being presented to the public for the first time. The exhibition organizers sought to show that she was a talented artist in her own right, though she did not have a professional education. Her images, which convey an emotional intensity through dramatic brush strokes, are comparable to Van Gogh’s works.

While the members of the Traugot family are independent artists using different art styles, love for St. Petersburg unites them in the exhibit space. They all devoted time and effort to depicting their home city, and a separate room at the museum is dedicated to besieged Leningrad in the works of Georgy Traugot.

RUSSIAN MUSEUM ‘Yellow Sun’ by Vera Yanova.

“It took nearly three years to prepare the exhibit,” said Kozyreva. “The idea of it was born a long time ago, because the Traugot artists are very famous in our city.

“Alexander is the only family member still alive. He gave us the opportunity to work with the family collection stored in St. Petersburg, in his parent’s studio on Ulitsa Blokhina,” she added.

Alexander Traugot now lives in Paris, but often visits his native city. He attended the opening of the exhibit and told reporters that despite his advanced age, he continues to work. He is currently working on illustrating Goethe’s “Faust” and Pyotr Yershov’s “Konyok-Gorbunok” (The Little Humpbacked Horse).

The “Traugot Family” exhibit runs through Oct. 15 at the Marble Palace,

5/1 Millionnaya Ulitsa. Tel. 595 4248.

M. Nevsky Prospekt. www.rusmuseum.ru