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"It is Impossible to Reach Korolkov..."

October 14, 2020 marks the 115th anniversary of the birth of the artist Sergei Korolkov, the first illustrator of all four books of the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov's "And Quiet Flows the Don". 

In the early 1930s, Korolkov was already known in the North Caucasus Territory as the author of drawings on the history of the Don, and Sholokhov himself invited him to illustrate his novel. The artist took about three years to work on the illustrations. During this time, he created over a hundred pencil drawings. 

Mikhail Sholokhov highly appreciated the artist's work. He said that other illustrators "do not have the mighty power that Korolkov had, it is impossible to reach Korolkov". His respect Mikhail Sholokhov showed in his autograph on the first book of the “And Quiet Flows the Don” published in 1939 by the Rostov book publishing house. The book is now kept in the Rostov museum of local history and it says: “I will more willingly sign this book, since it is equipped with illustrations by Korolkov that are truly unique in their truthfulness and knowledge of the Don life". Mikhail Sholokhov. 12/01/1968. 

Sergei Korolkov was born in 1905 in the Pavlov farm of the stanitsa Konstantinovskaya of the Don Cossack Region in the family of a horse breeder. He had an aspiration for drawing since childhood, but only at the age of 27 he entered the third year of the Rostov Art School. He worked as a graphic designer, then was sent to study in Leningrad at the Institute of Proletarian Fine Arts, but failed: the teachers believed that Korolkov's talent was so polished that further education could only harm. 

Working in Rostov-on-Don, the artist created a cycle of drawings and sculptures dedicated to the history of the Cossacks and the Civil War (high reliefs "The Death of the Vendee" and "Iron Stream" on the facade of the Rostov Drama Theater named after M. Gorky), illustrated the novels "Iron Stream" by A. Serafimovich, “How the Steel Was Tempered” by N. Ostrovsky, “On Khopr” by D. Petrov-Biryuk, performed a number of other works. 

The fate of Sergei Korolkov was very difficult. The artist believed that he was deprived of "that property and legal status" and well-being that his family had before the revolution, and openly spoke of Soviet power as unacceptable for the people. At the end of April 1933, he was arrested by the NKVD for anti-Soviet statements. In October of the same year, thanks to the petition of famous cultural figures of Rostov-on-Don, he was set free. 

When during the Great Patriotic War Rostov was occupied by the Nazis, Korolkov became a member of the "puppet Don government", and in 1943, when the invaders retreated from the city, he left the city with them. Then he emigrated to Western Europe, and later to the USA. 

Korolkov's drawings, which were in three museums of Rostov-on-Don, perished during the occupation of the city. 

We know a little about the life of S. Korolkov in emigration. He created a number of works dedicated to the tragedy of the Cossacks, monuments to Roosevelt and Lincoln, was one of the leaders of the American Association of Sculptors. He died in 1967, was buried in the United States at the Cossack cemetery near New York. 

Mikhail Sholokhov often recalled a gifted artist. In 1959, preparing for a trip to the United States, Sholokhov proposed to the famous sculptor E. Vuchetich to prepare a letter to Korolkov from artists who knew him well, with an appeal to return to their homeland. However, during his stay in the United States, Sholokhov did not manage to meet with Korolkov and pass him the letter. 

Sholokhov’s novel "And Quiet Flows the Don" with illustrations by Korolkov was published only three times before the Great Patriotic War: Moscow: Goslitizdat, 1935-1937 (1-3 books); Rostov: Rostizdat, 1939-1940 (1-4 books); Moscow: Goslitizdat, 1941 (1–4 books). New editions were released only in 1988-1989. (4th book without illustrations), and then in 1992-1995 and in 2004 already with all the artist's illustrations. 

In the National Sholokhov Museum-Reserve there are more than 20 drawings and paintings by S. Korolkov, eight of his engravings for the novel "And Quiet Flows the Don", the book by A. Sokolov "A horse, the structure of its body and external signs that determine its health, strength and suitability for work" (Edition of A. Devrien. St. Petersburg, 1899), owned by the artist, other unique items that were previously in the archive of Viktor Mikhailov, a resident of Togliatti. In the late 1930s - early 1940s, he lived in Rostov on the same street with the Korolkov family and took drawing lessons from Elizaveta Korolkova, the wife of Sergei Korolkov. The museum also contains an unfinished manuscript of V. Mikhailov about the artist and his family. 

At present the museum researchers are working on the publication of the materials related to the life and work of Sergei Korolkov. 

Olga Bakhtiyarova