Program of the Russian symphony concerts 1905

Ivan Bilibin made this program of the Russian symphony concerts probably with ink and maybe gouache, around 1905. Look at how the repeated floral forms create a field that both fills the space and frames the central text. It’s all about rhythm. The colour palette is restrained - black, cream, white - and the drawing is so tight, the surface so smooth. The effect is almost like a print, but there's a real handmade feel, a slight imperfection in the symmetry. It’s kind of mesmerizing. My eye keeps getting drawn to those little tear-drop paisley shapes that are everywhere, like musical notes on a page. They add so much dynamism to the design. Bilibin was part of the Mir iskusstva movement and his work is deeply connected to Russian folk art. Think about Gustav Klimt, or Aubrey Beardsley - there's a similar embrace of ornamentation and love of line. It’s all about finding new ways of seeing through the language of pattern and decoration.