Evgeniy Elchin

Eugene Yelchin was born in 1956 in Leningrad. His parents encouraged his artistic pursuits. His mother taught choreography at the Leningrad Choreographic School, so as a child he spent a lot of time backstage at the Kirov (Mariinsky) Theatre and, naturally, saw all the ballets. His father, an art lover, regularly took his son to the Hermitage. In 1979, Yelchin graduated from the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography. In 1980, together with other graduates of LGITMiK, he founded the Tomsk Regional Youth Theatre. In 1983, Yelchin emigrated to the United States. There he became an illustrator (it all began when he showed his stage sketches to employees of The Boston Globe, who took his work for magazine illustrations), and then even an advertising artist (for example, he painted polar bears for Coca-Cola). In America, Yelchin received a second education, graduating from the film school of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He began making television commercials and also working in animation. At the same time, Yelchin also painted, and his works are exhibited in galleries of contemporary art. When Yelchin received the Tomie dePaola illustrator award in 2006, publishers began approaching him more and more often; to date, he has illustrated more than 10 books. In 2011, Yelchin wrote and illustrated his own book, Breaking Stalin’s Nose. In 2012, Breaking Stalin’s Nose received the prestigious Newbery Medal, and The Horn Book Magazine, a journal devoted to children’s and young adult literature, named it the best book of 2011.

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The first culture shock the Russian-born artist Eugene Yelchin experienced in the United States was a classified page in the Boston Globe. Dozens of ads called for painters. Yelchin was thrilled. What an amazing country, he thought. He was a painter — he’d just had a solo museum show in Russia. Newly arrived to America, Yelchin sadly didn’t understand that house painters were needed, not fine artists.

In St. Petersburg Yelchin graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Theater Arts. For the stage, he designed sets and costumes for dramas, comedies and ballets. He co