Costume design for the Opera "Fairytale of the Tsar Saltan" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1936

Ivan Bilibin created this costume design for the Opera "Fairytale of the Tsar Saltan" with watercolor and ink, around 1936. The bold, graphic quality of the zig-zag patterns really grabs you, doesn't it? Like, the way the artist uses colour not just to decorate, but to build the whole visual rhythm. It makes you think about process - how choices in colour and line can define a whole aesthetic. Look at how the yellow and green chevrons create a kind of vibrating energy against the muted ground of the paper. The paint looks like it has been applied in thin washes, it's so delicate, and you can see how the artist used fine lines to outline the details. The way the lines are made reminds me of the work of illustrators like Aubrey Beardsley. What strikes me is how Bilibin manages to blend a sense of playful invention with such precise control of the materials. It’s this mix of clarity and imaginative whimsy that really stays with you. And that's the ongoing conversation of art, right? Trying things out, finding new ways to see and feel the world.