Robert Grabbe

Graphic artist, sculptor, illustrator, designer. Born in the family of Andrei Grabbe in Novorossiisk (30 March 1904). Studied sculpture and then graphic art at the Odessa School of Art (1920s). Met Eduard Bagritsky and a group of young writers from Odessa, including Yury Olesha, Valentin Katayev and Tatyana Tess. Took up book illustration. Produced many interesting works. Went to study in Leningrad with a group of young artists from Odessa, including David Rubinstein, Gavriil Schultz and Vladimir Gorb (1925). Studied under Dmitry Mitrokhin, Victor Zamirailo and Elizaveta Kruglikova at the VKhUTEIN. Became a close friend of Dmitry Mitrokhin. Studied silhouettes under Elizaveta Kruglikova. Worked as a freelance book designer for leading publishing houses in Moscow (early 1930s). Illustrated the books of such friends as Eduard Bagritsky, Sergei Borodin and Sergei Markov. Expert in the field of décollage – cutting works from paper. Worked as an artistic designer at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements in Moscow (1937–41). Lived in the Urals during the Second World War (1941–45). Moved to Riga (1945). Member of the Latvian branch of the Union of Artists. Lived in Karaganda (from 1951). Artistic designer at Karaganda Giproshakht. In Karaganda mostly produced ex libris and multi-figure décollage compositions on the theme of the history of Kazakhstan. Died (1991).