Vladimir Aleksandrovich Tambi (1906-1955) was fascinated by technology from a young age, which sparked his interest in drawing complex machinery as seen in What We Are Building. He studied in Proletkult, an organization designed to foster the creation of “art…by proletarians for proletarians.” He went on to the Academy of Arts, but never finished. After illustrating for Leningrad newspapers and magazines, he caught the attention of Vladimir Lebedev and worked under him in DETGIZ (the children’s branch of the State Publishing House). He was known for his skill in drawing complex machinery, and illustrated more than 150 children’s books relating to ships, cars, airplanes, etc. His use of bright colors (even in the background of his illustrations) captured the attention of his child readers, and he was known for the way he created perspective and motion in his illustrations. During the Siege of Leningrad, he was part of a group called “Battle Pencil” that produced popular (103 posters with circulation of about 15,000 copies each) lithographic anti-fascist propaganda posters.

Jess Lawlor

Sources:
https://habinfo.ru/tambi/, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Proletkult, https://tramvaiiskusstv.ru/plakat/spisok-khudozhnikov/item/277-tambi-vladimir-aleksandrovich-1906-1955.html
https://gufo.me/dict/bse/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%88