Alexander and Valery Traugottraugot.ruThe brothers Alexander and Valery Traugot are painters, sculptors, and masters of book illustration well-known both in Russia and abroad. Their first and most important teacher was their father, Georgy Nikolaevich Traugot, and the brothers created their early works together with him. This is how their collective pseudonym, "G.A.V. Traugot," was born—derived from the first initials of the artists' names. The brothers decided to keep the first letter even after their father passed away in 1982.
The Traugots created illustrations for the works of Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, Hauff, Charles Perrault, Homer, Ovid, Apuleius, Pushkin, Nabokov, and many, many others—in total, they illustrated around four hundred books. They didn't overlook the novel The Master and Margarita either: the brothers drew several hundred (yes, several hundred!) illustrations for it. On this page, I am publishing a few of them (and if you want to see them all, you can easily find the illustrated edition by the Vita Nova publishing house in online stores—granted, it is quite expensive, but if you appreciate deluxe editions, you'll agree it is well worth the money).
(By the way, besides these illustrations, the Traugots also created headpieces for the beginning of each chapter—be sure to check those out too).
Illustration from the title page, setting the mood: Moscow and Yershalaim
Woland joins the conversation of the literary men at Patriarch's Ponds
Yeshua in front of Pilate
Annushka — though not the one who spilled the oil, but tram Route A, nicknamed “Annushka” by Muscovites
Behemoth escapes pursuit on a tram
Ivan Homeless rushes into pursuit
Ivan with an icon on his chest at MASSOLIT
A hungover Stepan Likhodeyev tries to remember who he was drinking with the night before
Styopa stares in amazement at Woland’s gang...
...while Woland’s gang stares back at him
Posters advertising Woland at the Variety Theatre
Azazello and Behemoth beat up the administrator Varenukha in the park restroom
Woland on the Variety Theatre stage
The black magic performance
Behemoth tears off compère Georges Bengalsky’s head
The ladies’ shop right there on the Variety Theatre stage
The ladies scatter after their magical clothes vanish
And finally, the title hero appears: the Master writing his novel, with an invisible muse hovering above him
The Master meets Margarita carrying yellow flowers
Burning the novel in the stove
The witch Hella
Matthew Levi
Woland’s gang — this time without Woland, but with Hella instead
Behemoth pours himself some vodka
Azazello, holding a chicken, terrifies Berlioz’s uncle
The gloomy Variety Theatre barman Sokov climbs the stairs to Apartment No. 50
And this is what he finds there
And here is the second title heroine
Azazello with a gangster’s mug
Transformed into a witch, Margarita smashes the windows in Latunsky’s apartment with a hammer
The witches’ sabbath
Woland and Behemoth play magical chess
The Queen of the Spring Full Moon Ball
Guests at Satan’s Ball
Woland gives Margarita a drink from the cup made from Berlioz’s head
Hella fights with Behemoth
Margarita is reunited with the Master
Pilate and his dog
Behemoth is not misbehaving, bothering no one, repairing the primus stove
Woland and his retinue on the rooftop
Pilate ascends the moonlit path
Epilogue: The police arrested a suspicious cat, and its owner came to its rescue
