The Circus by Marshak, Samuil; Sayenko, Dmitry [Book Artist] - 2012

St. Petersburg: [Nikodim Press], 2012. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Sayenko, Dmitry. No. IX of XII, folio size, 50 pp., numbered and signed by Dmitry Sayenko. Dmitry Sayenko (b. 1965, in Kiev) learned a love of book illustration from his father, a book illustrator himself, by watching his father at work. In 1995 he graduated from the Mukhina Art School, St. Petersburg, where he still lives and works. In 1993 he began to work in the artist book field and, for most of his books, he not only designs the book, but makes the cuts, prints and binds the books, and for several also makes the paper.

His works are in private collections as well as institutions around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Russian National Library, the Staatsbibliotheck, the Birmingham Museum of Art, and the Eoun-ho Kim Collection, among others. Dmitry's illustrations are powerful and evocative, whimsical at times and gut-wrenching at others; in addition to wood and linocuts he uses other media such as pieces of old sheet music in creating his books.

This work, "The Circus", is full of colour and movement; Dmitry dedicated the book to his parents, "who showed the joy of the circus to me". Joy and laughter are on every page, from the clown peeking at one from the lower side of the colophon page, to squirrels riding bicycles, to jugglers whose multi-coloured rings leap off the top of the page.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in decorated paper boards over a tan leather spine, tan leather corners, small pastedown label on the front with the title in red, taupe endpapers, top edge rough-cut, fore- and bottom edges uncut, title page in red and black with a cut of an acrobat, most text in black with occasional phrases in red, cuts throughout in multiple colours; folio size (12.5" by 9.5"), unpaginated with 25 leaves, limited edition of 12 copies, each numbered and signed, this no. 9. Enclosed in a slipcase with tan paper sides, spine covered in the same decorated paper as the boards, upper and lower edges covered in brown cloth.

___CONDITION: Fine, as new; we acquired the book directly from the book artist; it is as it came from his workshop; slipcase also fine.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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