Illustration to 'The crane and heron. Bear.' 1906

Heorhiy Narbut created this illustration to 'The crane and heron. Bear.' with ink and paper and so much line-work it makes my eyes water! I can imagine Narbut being completely absorbed in this illustration—it's got such a tight, controlled feel. Look at those cranes, dolled up in these wild, patterned jackets. What’s up with that? What does it all mean? Well, meaning is everywhere, but it is also nowhere. It makes me think about fashion. Narbut was part of a very cool graphic design moment in Ukraine and Russia. Other artists like Ivan Bilibin and Sergey Chekhonin were also doing this sort of thing. They probably bounced ideas off each other like all artists do. I bet he had so many ideas, so many images circulating in his head. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? How images repeat and morph in different hands, across generations.