The Walking Dead

Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy's (1882-1945) famous trilogy, "The Walking on Flours," traces the fates of Russian intellectuals during and after the 1917 revolution. The book is adorned with dozens of black-and-white illustrations by Kukryniksy. Under this pseudonym were three artists: Mikhail Vasilyevich Kupriyanov, Porfiry Nikitich Krylov and Nikolai Alexandrovich Sokolov. They became famous as outstanding masters of satirical drawing. In this edition, readers can get acquainted with their illustrations, made in a realistic manner. At the end of the book there are sketches of Kukryniks' drawings for Tolstoy's novel.
Alexei Tolstoy began writing the first novel of his famous trilogy in 1918 in Odessa shortly before emigration. "Sisters" was published four years later in Berlin. The writer masterfully described the demise of the "Silver Age" and how the whirlwinds of World War I and the ensuing storm of two revolutions dispersed on different sides of the barricades of Russian intellectuals, relatives, loved ones. Tolstoy could not live outside Russia and soon returned to his homeland. His novel "The Eighteenth Year" was published in the USSR in 1928. It became the second part of the trilogy "Walking on Flours", which found its final form only in 1941. The writer repeatedly remodeled the text of the trilogy, so that the book could get into the hands of readers. In March 1943, this work was awarded the Stalin Prize. Commenting on his long-suffering trilogy, A. N. Tolstoy wrote that he tried to express in it the feeling of a huge epoch, and this work - "walking conscience of the author's suffering, hopes, raptures, falls, despondency and ups". As a result, along with "Quiet Don" by Sholokhov and "The White Guard" by Bulgakov, Tolstoy's trilogy has taken its rightful place in the golden fund of Russian literature. The book is decorated with illustrations made by Kukryniksy. Under this unusual pseudonym created three artists - Mikhail Vasilyevich Kupriyanov (1903-1991), Porfiry Nikitich Krylov (1902-1990) and Nikolai Alexandrovich Sokolov (1903-2000). There was hardly a person in the Soviet Union who had not seen drawings, cartoons or caricatures made by Kukryniksy. By their expressive posters it was possible to trace all the key events of the USSR's war with Nazi Germany, as well as the main moments of the post-war time, taking place on the world political arena. Drawings Kukryniksy on the evil of the day regularly appeared in the most influential print edition of the country - the newspaper "Pravda". The acquaintance of the three artists took place when they were students of Moscow VHUTEMAS - Higher Art and Technical Workshops. Started Kukryniksy their creative path with illustrations for stories and satirical drawings, which caustically ridiculed the surrounding reality. Kukryniksy perfectly showed themselves as book illustrators. Experiment in this field, a talented trio of masters began at the dawn of their creative activity. The skill of Kukryniksy allowed them to choose an original style for each specific work, for the illustration of which they undertook. Their drawings for the trilogy of A. N. Tolstoy trilogy prove it perfectly.