Boris Mikhailovich Leo (1904–1975) was a Soviet cartoonist who collaborated with many newspapers and magazines, including the famous satirical magazine Krokodil. His works were always distinguished by careful, precise drawing, compositionally reminiscent of “big painting”, witty humor, not only on political topics, but also on everyday topics, which has remained relevant to this day.
Did you at least consult with your daughter about which institute you would enroll her in?
Looking at them you can't even believe that they were created and satirically mock the realities of the 60s, it seems that for the past 60 years nothing has fundamentally changed. Parents still put their children in an institute, often without even asking if they want to study there and in general connect their lives with the specialty they have received.
-Who were you declaring your love to on the boulevard yesterday? -What time?
And isn't it necessary to fill out a bunch of documents and a questionnaire when trying to make an appointment with a doctor or when it is necessary to go to the hospital, when the patient really begins to doubt that he will live to see the end of this bureaucratic procedure.
Tell me frankly, doctor, will I live to see the end of the questionnaire?
And don't some girls marry rich elderly grooms with a dowry, firmly expecting to become a wealthy widow someday, and the sooner the better. Of course, the size of the dowry has changed - it is not 21 Volga, but the general meaning is the same.
The groom with a dowry. - Lenochka, be my widow!
Boris Leo is originally from Odessa, already in school he was interested in drawing caricatures, after which he entered the Odessa Free Academy of Arts. While still a student, he drew caricatures for various Odessa newspapers.
Experienced stenographer. - His voice becomes gentle - that means he's going to talk about his shortcomings now!
But the Soviet-Finnish war began, and Leo went to the front as a military artist, to raise the morale of our soldiers. During the Great Patriotic War, he had to survive the siege of Leningrad, where he drew pictures for the "TASS Windows", and came up with the character of the fighter Vasily Terkin, who became the prototype for the hero of the famous poem by Tvardovsky.
It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Leo, as well as many other Soviet artists, to the necessary frame of mind and the necessary fighting spirit. Perhaps now these caricatures look somewhat affected and overly bravura, but they fulfilled their main function: they showed the fascists as funny and absurd invaders who could be defeated. And when it is funny, it is not so scary.
I just can’t get along with the new manager: he’s not a hunter, not a fisherman, and not a fan!
After the war, Leo, having become skilled in drawing, began working for the famous humor magazine Crocodile, and his creative style became the main one for this publication, and young authors were guided by it.
-Brilliant! Only, I think I look a little older here!
According to his contemporaries, he was always very demanding of his caricatures and could redo a finished drawing several times if he suddenly decided that he had managed to come up with a more successful composition.
Workers: - Sort it out and report!...
At first glance, it seemed that drawing came very easily to him, but this is a false statement: behind each of them there was hard work and intense mental work, multiplied by talent. Despite his age, he always managed to be very modern, he felt the pulse of the times and mercilessly ridiculed all the existing vices and shortcomings, fortunately, during the Khrushchev thaw, censorship was no longer so fierce.
-This is not my profile!
Leo especially loved to ridicule hipsters of all stripes, irresponsible young men who don't want to do anything, aging womanizers and young, but already skilled in finding suitable "rich sugar daddies" hunters for other people's wealth and lovers of the "sweet life". And he wondered: why are young people like this now, why don't they want to work honestly like their parents, where does such admiration for the "decaying West" come from. Honestly, nothing has changed since then, and his works are still relevant today.
Child of the screen. - Clean the room... No, Mom, I'm not the part for me!
And impressive is the drawing of his cartoons, carefully and convincingly selected images, which, despite the humorous stylization, are unmistakably recognizable. And yet Leo managed to create his own style and vision of drawing, which echoed the general style of the 1960s.
-I saw “Spartak” at the Bolshoi yesterday. -Who was he playing with?
Not surprisingly, his work is still interesting today, and some online freelancers would do well to learn from cartoonists of the old school, at least the basics of skill and attitude to their work.
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