Artist German Ogorodnikov, a unique Russian-Soviet illustrator, graphic artist and caricaturist, has died at the age of 87, according to cultural scientist Boris Yakemenko on his Telegram channel.
German Ogorodnikov worked for the Krokodil magazine for 30 years. But his works were published in “Funny Pictures”, “Peasant Woman”, “Murzilka”. He is also known for his illustrations for children’s books: “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, “Fidget”, “Mytsyk the Mouse”, “Sipsik”, “The Adventures of the Chess Soldier Peshkin” and others.
“He had a unique drawing style, immediately recognizable and so funny that he didn’t need captions. Even at school we bought “Crocodile” every week, immediately looked for Ogorodnikov’s drawings in it and laughed like crazy. How many lessons Ogorodnikov missed in the long-suffering school number 12 will become clear at the Last Judgment, but there were many of these lessons.” — wrote Yakemenko.
German Ogorodnikov was born in 1938 in the village of Karlygany in the Republic of Mari El. He graduated from the Kazan Art School in 1961. He did his internship at the Tatarstan newspaper “Pionerskaya Pravda”. After working there for five years, the young artist was invited to Moscow, where he stayed. One of the reviews of his caricatures read:
“The way the drawings are drawn is rather careless, but this gives them a spontaneous charm. This is how children draw themselves: without aiming for perfection, but with joy, happiness and generosity. Nevertheless, the master’s hand is very noticeable. The drawings are often so rich in detail that an ordinary illustration becomes a panoramic canvas.”
