Boris Messerer’s Graphics Book / Editors: B. Messerer, T. Dmitrieva, D. Masleeva, N. Bisti «Art Volkhonka» Publishing House
Boris Asafovich Messerer (b. 1933) is a Soviet and Russian theater designer, scenographer, and educator. He is an Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts, a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, a recipient of two State Prizes of the Russian Federation, a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, the Union of Theater Workers of the Russian Federation, and the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation.
Boris Messerer. Photo by Eduard Kornienko
Boris Asafovich Messerer has become deeply engaged with etching in recent years, and through it—with the potential of printmaking technology in general. He ingeniously increased the size of the printing press by several times and modernized not only the press itself but also the entire etching and printing process. This resulted in a new method where the technology itself becomes a creative act. Etching, or intaglio printing, Boris combined with the ingenuity of relief printing, giving the image surface of the print a surprising material quality.
When I embarked on the path of a professional artist—having already qualified as an architect but not wishing, due to a number of circumstances, to pursue that noble field—book graphics helped me and allowed me to make ends meet financially. But beyond that, I developed a passion, a need to serve the art of the book, and this passion contributed to my development as an artist.
Борис Мессерер «О книжной графике»
In the «Book Graphics» section, illustrations and book covers designed by Boris Messerer from the 1960s to the 2010s are displayed. Surviving original bookworks are kept in the artist’s studio. Those works that are partially missing have been reproduced based on published editions, which have become bibliographic rarities. Most of the works are published for the first time.
Volume — 344 pages Format 205×260 mm Binding — hardcover, open spine Publication Year 2026
ISBN 978-5-907387-46-1
Cover — open spine/ metallized paper/ black foil stamping/ Parato-Print typography 2026