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Lot Essay
Built to mark the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913, The State Bank in Nizhny Novgorod is a paean to neo-Russian style with its medieval towers and richly-decorated interior chambers. The architect, Vladimir Pokrovsky (b. 1871), saw his project realised over a period of two years; work began on 5 May 1911 and the building was completed on 14 May 1913.
Ivan Bilibin's main interests lay in Russian folktale illustration and stage design. As such, he was the perfect choice to receive the commission to design a series of pan-Slavic murals for the ceilings of the Nizhny Novgorod State Bank in 1912. Bilibin's designs were realised (fig. 1) by the mural painter Nikolai Pashkov and the finished mural related to the present watercolour still decorates one of the bank's interior offices today.
Ivan Bilibin's main interests lay in Russian folktale illustration and stage design. As such, he was the perfect choice to receive the commission to design a series of pan-Slavic murals for the ceilings of the Nizhny Novgorod State Bank in 1912. Bilibin's designs were realised (fig. 1) by the mural painter Nikolai Pashkov and the finished mural related to the present watercolour still decorates one of the bank's interior offices today.