Meeting Calligraphers from Saint Petersburg
Ilya Bogdesko, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts and author of the Calligraphy self-tuition manual, considers the type to be one of the key components of a book. He works with handwritten scripts and often receives commissions for manuscript book designs. Ilya Bogdesko is widely known not only as a graphic designer but also as a talented illustrator. Many generations of readers grew up on his illustrations for the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Aleksandr Pushkin, Miguel de Cervantes, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Fenimore Cooper, and Louis Boussenard. It is not an easy matter to find professional calligraphers: true Masters are scarce. On January 16th, our correspondent arrived in St Petersburg to meet calligraphy guru Ilya Bogdesko. Imagine our correspondent’s surprise when he met two calligraphers at once! The son of Ilya Bogdesko, Valentin, is engaged in calligraphy teaching as well. The Bogdesko family supported Sokolniki MEC initiative; Ilya presented us his book and signed it, «I’m sending my first swallow to support the Calligraphy project».
We hope that the master’s works and participation in the project’s events in St Petersburg will be his «second swallow». As for Valentin Bogdesko, he expressed his readiness to give some lectures for the visitors of the «International Exhibition of Calligraphy».