Evgeniy GritchinI literally get Stendhal syndrome from these illustrations; they make such a strong impression. I waited a very long time for this book to be released—for many years, it was known that the artist Evgeniy Gritchin was working on paintings for The Master and Margarita, feeling his way toward the necessary pictorial style, compositional structure, and so on. A few early versions of his illustrations (I have included them in the selection for comparison) had been known since the 1990s, serving as a kind of trailer for the upcoming series. The series, however, had to be waited for for more than twenty years. But it was worth it.
By the way, the book illustrated by Yevgeny Gritchin, published by Pan Press, can be bought for your collection—look for it online using ISBN 978-5-9680-0262-4. The quality of the publication is beyond all praise.
The Master and Margarita with yellow flowers
Part One
Illustration for the epigraph from Faust: Mephistopheles proclaims that he is part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good.
(And this is what this illustration looked like in the sketches)
Woland contemplates the Patriarch's Ponds
Woland foretells Berlioz's death under a tram. In the background, you can see the building of the Patriarch's Ponds boat station
In a white cloak with a blood-red lining...
Pilate, suffering from a headache, speaks with Yeshua Ha-Notsri
(And this is how the artist drew this scene 20 years ago)
Pilate speaks with the high priest Caiaphas
Pilate announces the verdict to the crowd
In the moonlight, it seems to Ivan Homeless that the mysterious foreign professor is holding not a cane, but a sword under his arm
Dancing in the MASSOLIT restaurant to Griboyedov's jazz
Woland awaits the awakening of a hungover Styopa Likhodeyev in the “naughty apartment”
The black magic show at the Variety Theatre
Margarita reads the Master's novel in her Arbat basement apartment. Lilacs are blooming outside the window
The Master with stolen keys in Stravinsky's clinic
The posturing Koroviev-Fagott
Behemoth with the Kyiv uncle's passport against the background of a stained-glass jeweler's window
The foreign artist's maid invites Baron Meigel to the ball
The Variety Theatre cashier falls off the bench, spilling wine on his trousers. Azazello fries something very tasty and fresh over the fire
Part Two
“Margarita Nikolaevna was not in need of money. Margarita Nikolaevna could buy anything she liked. Margarita Nikolaevna never touched a primus stove. Margarita Nikolaevna did not know the horrors of living in a shared apartment. In short... She was happy? Not for a single minute!”
“The darkness that came from the Mediterranean Sea covered the city so hated by the procurator.” At Pilate's feet is a broken vessel with blood-red wine
Azazello hands Margarita the magic cream
Participants of the witches' Sabbath greet Margarita
Azazello meets Margarita at the cemetery to escort her to the ball
The Great Ball at Satan's
Margarita is bathed in blood
Koroviev shows Margarita the ballrooms with their tropical forests
The ball orchestra
The queen of the ball greets the guests
(And here is an early version of the same illustration)
The ball
Pool with champagne
“Everything came true, didn't it?”
Pilate and his dog. At the procurator's feet, a blood-red puddle that never dries up
(Here's an early version of this illustration)
Woland, contemplating Moscow from the roof of Pashkov House, sends Azazello to arrange the fate of the Master and Margarita
The flight on the magical black horses
Pilate with his dog on a mountain plateau. At his feet is a bloody puddle
Close-up
The cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the horseman Pontius Pilate
