In the 1880s, the artist, designer and illustrator Elena Polenova (1850-98) began illustrating fairy tales that she noted down during her travels around Russian villages. The first of these was The Tale of Masha and Vanya. The original editions of some of these illustrated fairy-tales are now kept at Polenovo, the museum-estate of the artist’s family, and this is the first English-language publication based upon Polenova’s original hand-made drawings and typography. Sister of the landscape artist Vasily Polenov, and a leading member of the Abramtsevo circle of Russian artists, who engaged with peasant traditions and folklore towards the end of the nineteenth century, Elena Polenova is well known in Russia and abroad, but her illustrations to fairy tales have had little exposure. With a new translation by Robert Chandler, this beautifully crafted book is published to coincide with an exhibition in the UK of the artist’s work.
