Vasilii Dmitrievich Ermilov (1884-1968) Russian architect and book set designer

Vasilii Dmitrievich Ermilov (1884-4968), a Russian architect, book and set designer, interior designer, and illustrator. He was born in Kharkov (now Ukraine). 

Untitled Compsoition – Vasilii Dmitrievich Ermilov

Education

  • 1905-09, studied School of Decorative Arts, Kharkov
  • 1910-11, Kharkov Art School and private studios
  • 1913, Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture under Petr Konchalovski and Il ‘ia Mashkov.

Biography

After early contact with Cubists and Futurists, including David Burliuk and Vladimir Maiakovskii, from c1913, he explored Neo-Primdecorationsism, Futurism, and Suprematism. His decorations appeared in the Kharkov Futurist album 7 + 3. His work for the album was influential on his later book designs and illustrations, including the first edition of Velimir Khlebnikov’s Ladomir (1920) and the journal Avangard (1923-30). 

In 1918, he joined the Union 7 monumental artists’ group. In 1919-20, he was involved in the design of various agitprop projects including agitposters, interiors of clubs, and agit-trains. 

In 1922, was a co-founder of Kharkov Art Technicum and was a lecturer at Kharkov Art Institute. He pursued architectural and theatrical design projects in the late 1920s and 1930s. 

Valerian Polishchuk published his 1931 monograph on Ermliov at Kharkov. 

Designed interior (with Anatolii Petritskii) of Ukrainian pavilion at 193 7-38 Moscow ‘All-Union Agricultural Exhibition.’ 

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Additional Reading

Constructivism Brought the Russian Revolution to the Art World – Encyclopedia of Design

One of the 20th century’s most influential movements amounted to nothing less than an attack on art. In 1922, a Russian artist named Aleksei Gan penned a manifesto that began with words in glaring uppercase: “WE DECLARE UNCOMPROMISING WAR ON ART!” The Russian Revolution had taken place five years earlier, in 1917.

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