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Spring

Print
ca. 1993 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

These two prints come from a group of four depicting the seasons and suggest poverty and the daily struggle to survive. They also have a kind of romantic lyricism suggested by the religious iconography, images from nature, such as birds, trees and flowers, and the general disposition and weaving together of individual scenes to make up the whole.

Shortly after graduating from art school Boris Zabirokhin made repeated trips to the remote and forgotten villages of northern Russia. His work has since been influenced by a mixture of nostalgia for his childhood holidays with his grandmother in one such village and his sympathy for the very difficult life of the villagers which persisted at least until the date these works were first designed in 1982. Other influences have been religion and Russian literature, particularly the work of the so-called 'country writers' and their empathy with the peasants. His work has a strong illustrative and narrative vein, often themed around children's stories and folklore.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSpring (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Etching and drypoint on paper
Brief description
Print, etching and drypoint, symbolising Spring, Boris Zabirokhin, Russia, about 1993
Physical description
Etching and drypoint on paper. Centre image is a peasant with a horse- drawn plough, diagonally across the picture plane; above and behind him are other peasants, one handling cut saplings and two others fishing; in the foreground two women peasants are tending soil/plants, elsewhere in the image are a church, a bear, a bee keeper etc.
Dimensions
  • Plate height: 36.6cm
  • Plate width: 27.8cm
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
2/10 (IV)
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed in pencil in cyrillic script in the artist's hand below the plate, with the title; the letters and numbers C3 and C4; the edition number 7/10 (IV); signature and the date -82-93 (The letters C3 and C4 indicate that this is an intaglio process from metal. C3 is etching, C4 is drypoint. This method of indicating techniques by a letter and number code is widespread in Russia and Eastern Europe. Some Polish and Russian catalogues print the codes at the back for reference. The edition number 2/10 (IV) indicates that this is the 2nd print made within a batch of 10 and that this is the fourth batch of ten that has been made. Many Russians adopted this system of spreading the printing of an edition over a long period of time. This was a rational response to the irregular availability of ink and paper. The double date indicates that the suite 'The Seasons' was originally produced in 1982 but the 93 probably refers to the date of this particular 'batch' ( see note above).)
Credit line
Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund
Production
There are four prints, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, of which the V&A has two, Spring: E.1060-2003 and Winter: E.1061-2003
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
These two prints come from a group of four depicting the seasons and suggest poverty and the daily struggle to survive. They also have a kind of romantic lyricism suggested by the religious iconography, images from nature, such as birds, trees and flowers, and the general disposition and weaving together of individual scenes to make up the whole.

Shortly after graduating from art school Boris Zabirokhin made repeated trips to the remote and forgotten villages of northern Russia. His work has since been influenced by a mixture of nostalgia for his childhood holidays with his grandmother in one such village and his sympathy for the very difficult life of the villagers which persisted at least until the date these works were first designed in 1982. Other influences have been religion and Russian literature, particularly the work of the so-called 'country writers' and their empathy with the peasants. His work has a strong illustrative and narrative vein, often themed around children's stories and folklore.
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
E.1060-2003

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Record createdJune 16, 2004
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