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Цель данной статьи — описать контекст художественной ситуации в области детской книги Ленинграда 1920-х гг. и проанализировать место художника В. В. Владимирова в нем. В. В. Владимиров — москвич, усвоивший традиции русского и европейского стиля модерн, переехал в Петроград в 1921 г. и примкнул к работе местных издательств. Эволюция творческого метода московского мастера в Ленинграде является поводом обратиться к анализу художественных подходов как московской и ленинградской школ, так и отдельных направлений внутри них — конструктивистского и мирискуснического, а также к историографии вопроса., The article aims to describe the context of the artistic situation with children’s book illustration in Leningrad of the 1920s and analyze V. Vladimirov’s place in it. Vladimirov, a native of Moscow, adopted the traditions of Russian and European art nouveau, moved to Petrograd in 1921 and joined the work of local publishers. The Evolution of the Moscow artist’s creative work in Leningrad welcomes the analysis of artistic approaches of the Moscow and Leningrad schools, as well as certain trends within them — Constructivist and Miriskusniki, along with the historiography of the subject matter in question.

In this project I argue that recurrent universal themes such as death, time and identity are integral to the continuum of crossover children’s fiction*. Through a close reading of my favourite crossover book Ronia the Robber’s Daughter (1982), and by correlating key moments from my personal history with identified themes I will show how this genre is able to communicate the universal and the personal. My thesis examines how illustration can enhance the universal and the personal and thereby make the concept of the continuum explicit. Many books intended for children appeal to both adults and children alike. This genre is described as crossover fiction. As an illustrator I am interested in how illustration can enhance this literature and the themes contained in the narrative text. My research focuses on commonly appearing themes (for example death, nature and time) identified by scholar Maija-Liisa Harju (2009). By conducting a comparative analysis of crossover literature case studies and a formal aesthetic analysis of their illustrative content I investigate how these themes can be enhanced through illustration. I analyse how cultural context such as exemplified by the illustrative work of Antony Browne can help shape universal themes, thereby adding a personal dimension to the narrative text. In this investigation I identify how formal elements (colour, line, motifs and composition) and visual metaphor can be implemented as a design strategy in visually communicating the resonance between my own life story and the universal themes specific to Astrid Lindgren’s Ronia the Robber’s Daughter (1982). * Crossover fiction: Fiction enjoyed by a readership of many ages. Essential components of a crossover book are: diverse address, complexity in form and/or theme, evidence of diverse readership (Beckett, Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives, 2009)