Merkulov, Yuri Alexandrovich

The early years

Born in the village of Rasskazovo (now the city of Rasskazovo, Tambov region ) in a wealthy large family. His father, Alexander Nikolayevich Merkulov (1869-1924), was a well-known surgeon, associate of N. A. Semashko , co-founder and director of the Traumatology Institute, organized hospitals throughout the country and often moved from place to place. As a “man of wide views”, he gave his 11-room apartment to the needy, having settled his family in a 9-meter room. Mother Maria Karlovna (1870-1944) was a pianist who devoted herself to raising seven children, taught them music and the German language ^{[1] [2]} .

Yuri Merkulov early became interested in painting and entered the School of F.I. Rerberg . During the Civil War, he worked as a nurse in a hospital, served in the navy and trained sailor artists; Subsequently, the marine theme became his passion. He began his career as an artist of the Special Cavalry Brigade in Moscow. He collaborated with Vladimir Mayakovsky : he drew political posters for “The windows of the satire ROSTA ”, painted propaganda trains , barracks, decorated holidays and mass processions, made signs, etc. As an artist-designer, he participated in the creation of the play “ Mystery Buff ” at the Theater of the RSFSR 1st ^{[1] [3]} .

He studied at VKhUTEMAS in the workshop of I.I. Mashkov , which he graduated in 1923. The graduation work was a pictorial portrait of S. M. Budenny . He was a member of the group of "projectionists" and "concrete specialists" who stood out from them, and in 1925 he became one of the founding members of the Society of Easel Artists (OST) .

Cinema and Animation

Together with Daniil Cherkes, he began production of the first cartoons in the country - the so-called “Animated posters” for propaganda trains based on caricatures of artists Dmitry Moor , M. M. Cheremnykh , V. N. Denis . In 1923, together with Nikolai Khodataev and Zenon Komissarenko prepared sketches for the experimental science fiction film " Aelita ". The director Yakov Protazanov rejected the proposal to add cartoon inserts combined with acting to the picture ^[4] . Then all three organized their own Experimental Animation Bureau at the State College of Cinematography , where they created one of the first cartoons in the USSR “ Interplanetary Revolution ” using the technique of a flat puppet (relocation), which was a parody of Aelita.

In 1925, Ivan Ivanov-Vano , sisters Brumberg , Vladimir Suteev , Olga Khodataeva joined the team ^[3] . Together, they directed one of the world's first feature films, China on Fire , about European intervention in the Chinese revolution (the film was commissioned by the Soviet government). According to Sergey Kapkov , the picture totaled 1000 meters of film, which at the then projection speed took more than 50 minutes of screen time ^[5] .

In 1926, together with Ivanov-Vano, he created cartoon inserts for the first Soviet popular science film “ Brain Mechanics ” directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin , which was highly appreciated both among domestic specialists ( Ivan Pavlov ) and abroad (in particular, it was used as a teaching aid in England ) ^{[1] [3]} . Merkulov independently designed a filming machine with various devices ^[6] .

In 1927 he switched to Mezhrabpom-Rus , where he organized a studio for the production of animated political advertising and cartoons. In the same year, he directed the first Soviet full-scale graphic film for children, " Senka-African " (also known as "Crocodile Krokodilovich") together with Circassian and Ivanov-Vano. In it, animated fragments were combined with documentary-game shots. He designed cartoon inserts for the comedy " Kiss Mary Pickford " ^[1] .

In 1928, he launched the first puppet animated series in the USSR about the adventures of the little man Bratishkin. The character was a three-dimensional hinged puppet (doll) that interacted with the real world, including people. Subsequently, Merkulov lost the director's chair to the novice Alexander Ptushko ^[7] . Together with Leonid Amalrik and Lev Atamanov, he organized a workshop at the Gosvoenkino for the production of military training animation ^[6] .

In 1929 he directed an animated-fiction film about the 1st Cavalry Army , the idea of ​​which he nurtured for many years. It was based on the story of a mortally wounded soldier of the Red Army , whom he heard in 1919 as a nurse in a hospital. The operator was Eduard Tisse . The film was very popular - the Merkulov family lived for several years on deductions from film screenings ^{[1] [3]} .

In the 1950s and 60s, he continued to create animated political movie posters for the wickedness of the day, as well as cartoon inserts for feature and documentary films. He had a textured appearance, and filmmakers often invited him to the episodic roles of nobles, landowners and aristocrats ^[1] .

Beyond Cinema

Member of World War II .

Merkulov found different incarnations for his ideas. So, in the 1930s, he built a seaplane model in the Central Park of Culture and Leisure ; so that those who wish could feel the “flight effect”, alternating types of military and civilian objects were built into the windows, and an attraction for shooting at targets was placed on board ^[1] .

As a restorer, he worked on the restoration of the Vorontsov Palace in Sevastopol , where he planned to open a Museum of Russian Marine Glory with a panoramic view. In 1939 he was appointed chief artist of the first exhibition of the Navy of the USSR , also held in Gorky Park ^[1] .

He was engaged in painting and agitprop . In particular, he owns such well-known poster works as “Preparing the Fight” (1925), “The banner of the Lenin Komsomol must fly on the battleship!” (1930s), “Beat the enemy in sniper, in the guards!” (1942, together with P. T. Maltsev ) ^[8] .

He was married to Antonina Vasilyevna Merkulova, whom he met in Sevastopol. The couple had a daughter, Nina. He collected rare ancient books on the history of art. He dreamed of creating a film museum ^[3] .

He died on February 13, 1979. He was buried in Moscow in a family burial at the Novodevichy cemetery (plot 3, row 3) ^[2] .

Issues 15, 22 and 23 from the series “ Animation from A to Z ” by Irina Margolina ( REN-TV , 1997, hosted by Eduard Nazarov ) are devoted to the life and work of Yuri Merkulov.

• Encyclopedia of domestic animation / Comp. S.V. Kapkov. - M .: Algorithm , 2006 .-- 838 p. - ISBN 5-9265-0319-4 . C. 433-434
• Cinema: Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. S. I. Yutkevich . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1987. - S. 265. - 640 p.
• Merkulov Yu. A. Something about Bratishkin // Soviet Screen . - 1928. - No. 49 . - ISSN 0132-0742 .
• Merkulov Yu. A. Soviet animation began like this // from Sat. “Life in the cinema. Veterans about themselves and their comrades. " - M .: Art , 1971. - S. 124. - 392 p.
• Ivanov-Vano I.P. Frame-by-frame / Ch. ed. S. I. Yutkevich . - M .: Art , 1980 .-- S. 17-23, 54-60. - 239 p.

• Yuri Merkulov on the Internet Movie Database
• Merkulov Yuri Alexandrovich on the site Animator.ru
• Merkulov Yuri Alexandrovich - Encyclopedia of Russian cinema
• Luminaries of Russian animation. Movie 11. Yuri Merkulov