Iaguzhinskii, Sergei Ivanovich

Sergei Ivanovich Iaguzhinskii was a Russian and Soviet painter and graphic artist. Additionally, he was engaged in book illustration and worked in the applied and decorative arts. Born in Moscow, Iaguzhinskii began his formal education in the late 1870s at the Stroganov School for Technical Drawing. Additionally, he continued his education at MUZhVZ (Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture) where he attended from 1881 to 1889 under the tutelage of master painters Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin, Vladimir Yegorovich Makovskii and Vasilii Dmitrievich Polenov.

After his education, Iaguzhinskii undertook portrait and landscape painting while also working in book illustration. The artist designed Russian folk tale books and illustrated re-printed works by Alexander Pushkin and Nikolai Gogol. In 1916, Iaguzhinskii lent his talents to the literary collection "Half a Century for the Book: The 50th Anniversary of the Publishing Activities of I. D. Sytin”. In 1913, he was credited with designing the menu cover for the gala dinner on the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. On the side, the artist designed sketches for fabrics, furniture, product labels, and created educational aids for geography.

After the October Revolution, Sergei Iaguzhinskii worked in the field of poster art. Early-on, he created a series dedicated to public health. Some poster titles in the series included, "An abortion performed by a grandmother or midwife not only maims women, but often leads to death”; "Children should not die!"; "What is rickets and how to fight it" (all 1925). In addition, Iaguzhinskii is credited with designing the Red Army educational poster, “Sons of the bourgeoisie used to study here. Workers and Farmers, now you attend.” The artist also worked for GIZ (State Publishing House) and he was involved in civic decoration projects.

Around 1898, Sergei Iaguzhinskii began contributing to art exhibitions. He exhibited at the Moscow Society of Art Lovers (1898 and 1908) and at the Vyatka Art Circle (1911 and 1912). He also was a board member and an exhibitor with Sreda (Wednesday), an artistic and literary group in the Russian Empire. In 1937, Iaguzhinskii held a solo exhibition in Moscow.

Iaguzhinskii held private drawing classes and taught a watercolor course at MUZhVZ / Second Svomas (Second Free State Art School) in Moscow, where he also was on the academic staff. From 1906 to 1917, the artist was a member of Izvestia obshchestva prepodavateley graficheskikh iskusstv (Society of Teachers of Graphic Arts). By the late 1920s, Sergei Iaguzhinskii’s eyesight was failing and he terminated his artistic career.