Виктор ЕфименкоThese etchings are, in my opinion, some of the best illustrations for the novel. Their author is Viktor Efimenko (10.02.1933 – 12.07.1994), a Ukrainian graphic artist who dedicated fifteen years of his life to this work (the illustrations were created from 1978 to 1992).
For many years, I searched for these works, but I could only find a few of them online. And yet, the entire series includes 64 pictures!
The fact that we now have the opportunity to see these etchings is thanks to Volodymyr Efimenko, the artist's son, whose efforts led to the publication of an album with reproductions in 2007. However, that album is now impossible to find, and no one knows when we would have been able to see these beautiful illustrations if not for Liudmila Danishevska, who gave me such a wonderful gift. I want to take this opportunity to thank her very much!
Two heroes
“I am part of that power which eternally wills evil and eternally works good”
The thirties
Never talk to strangers
The wandering preacher
Man is kind, there are no evil people in the world
A dialogue about truth
“It is easy and pleasant to tell the truth”
Dogmatism
(Matthew Levi)
The idol's punishment
(from the triptych “The Triumph of Var-Ravvan”)
The triumph of Var-Ravvan
(from the triptych “The Triumph of Var-Ravvan”)The robber and murderer Var-Ravvan firmly sits on the shoulders of two faceless functionaries. The one on the left is dressed in the robes worn by the high priest Caiaphas. The one on the right is in a modern suit.
Cowardice
(from the triptych “The Triumph of Var-Ravvan”)
Immortality for cowardice
Berlioz's head
(From the diptych “The Seventh Proof of the Existence of God”)
The evil force
(From the diptych “The Seventh Proof of the Existence of God”)
It happened at Griboyedov's
Pay attention to the writer on the left
The dialogue between the professor and the poet
(The cross and the sword)
Money
(From the triptych “Black Magic and Its Exposure”)
The black magic session
(From the triptych “Black Magic and Its Exposure”)
The ladies
(From the triptych “Black Magic and Its Exposure”)
The appearance of the hero
The appearance of Margarita
(Reflection in the glass)
Margarita
The Master
(From the diptych “The Master and Margarita”)
“Freshness is only ever first freshness”
Hooting
(From the triptych “The Master's Ordeals”)
Thirty pieces of silver
(From the triptych “The Master's Torments”)In the envelope, apparently, is Aloysius Mogarych's denunciation of the Master: on the sheet you can make out the words “Being an honest... real I report... that he keeps... illegal literature”
The octopus
(From the triptych “The Master's Torments”)“The moment I put out the lamp in my little room before going to bed, it seemed to me that some kind of octopus with very long and cold tentacles was crawling in through the little window, even though it was closed”
The burning of the manuscript
Through the carnival without buttons
“At night, in the same coat but with the buttons torn off, I was shivering from the cold in my little yard”
Judas of Kiriath
Matthew Levi
(from the triptych “Golgotha”)
“Humanity will see through a magical crystal the clear water of the river of life”
(In the novel, it actually reads: “We shall see the clear river of the water of life... Humanity will look at the sun through a transparent crystal...”)
Under the shadow of the monument
(From the triptych “Golgotha”)
The kidnapping (“Plainclothes art critics know everything!”)
“Hail to the sea, sacred Baikal!”
“What a maid the foreigner has! Ugh, how vile!”
(Hella, by the way, was drawn to resemble Russian singer Alla Pugacheva)
Booms! Booms! Booms! Or the end of the earthly journey of comrade Berlioz, Mikhail Alexandrovich
Invisible and free!
Margarita and the goat-footed one
Margarita and the Atlantes in plain clothes
“The third, an exact copy of the second, and therefore the first, was on duty on the third-floor landing”
Margarita and Koroviev
(From the triptych “By Candlelight”)
Woland
(From the triptych “By Candlelight”)
Behemoth and Azazello
(From the triptych “By Candlelight”)“Now a white bow tie appeared on the cat's neck, and a mother-of-pearl ladies' opera glass on a strap was on his chest”
We are enchanted!
Phantasmagoria No. 1
(“A fact is the most stubborn thing in the world”)
The all-hearing ear or the punishment of Baron Meigel
Phantasmagoria No. 2 or the crowing of a rooster
The Master's return
(“Yes, they did a good job on him!”)Letters НКВД for soviet state secret police are stamped on the meat grinder
The expulsion of the evil spirits
“This certifies that the bearer, Nikolai Ivanovich, spent the aforementioned night at Satan's ball, having been brought there as a means of transport... Put a bracket, Hella! In the bracket, write 'boar'. Signature — Behemoth”
After the ball. The guests' departure
The cat and the men in plain clothes
Margarita before the mirror
Dialectics
“What would your good do if evil did not exist, and how would the earth look if shadows disappeared from it? After all, shadows are cast by objects and people. Here is a shadow from my sword. But there are shadows from trees and from living beings. Do you not want to tear the whole globe bare by removing all the trees and all living things from it for the sake of your fantasy of enjoying naked light?”
Hopelessness
(The fate of the Master and Margarita is sealed)
Death
“The face of the poisoned woman was changing. Even in the approaching stormy twilight, it was visible how her temporary witch's squint and the cruelty and wildness of her features were disappearing. The face of the deceased brightened and, finally, softened, and her bared teeth were no longer predatory, but simply the feminine, suffering baring of teeth.”
The Master and Margarita
Woland and his retinue
(From the diptych “The Cavalcade”)
Twelve thousand moons
Farewell (the moonbeam path)
“A wide moonbeam path is stretched out, and onto this path rises a man in a white cloak with a blood-red lining and begins to walk towards the moon. Beside him walks a young man in a torn chiton and with a disfigured face. The two walking are talking with fervor, arguing, trying to come to an agreement about something.”
Farewell to Woland
Eternal rest
The Master's disciple - Professor of History Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyryov
Manuscripts don't burn
In memory of the Master
Three heroes with names beginning with “M” are depicted, and one with a name beginning with “W”