Spring

The prints depict rural labor and natural motifs—birds, blossoms, trees—interwoven with subtle religious imagery. They convey the hardship of village life without overt sentimentality, while evoking a sense of spiritual continuity. The presence of children and domestic routines suggests resilience, framed by a tone of gentle remembrance rather than despair.

Zabirokhin employs a linear, illustrative style with clear outlines and muted tones, typical of traditional printmaking. The compositions are carefully structured, blending narrative detail with symbolic elements. The flatness of form and deliberate pacing invite slow viewing, reinforcing the quiet, almost liturgical rhythm of rural existence.

Zabirokhin produced these works after years of travel to remote northern Russian villages, beginning shortly after his art school graduation. The series was conceived in 1982 but printed in 1993, reflecting a prolonged engagement with his subject. The prints entered the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection as part of their broader documentation of 20th-century Russian graphic art.

The series emerges from a post-Soviet cultural moment when artists revisited pre-revolutionary themes of peasant life. Zabirokhin drew from childhood memories of time spent with his grandmother and the literary tradition of Russian 'country writers' like Saltykov-Shchedrin, who portrayed rural hardship with moral depth and empathy.

These prints contribute to a modest but significant body of work that reimagines folk and religious iconography through a modern printmaking lens. Zabirokhin’s approach avoids romanticization, instead offering a restrained, poetic record of rural Russia’s enduring rhythms, influencing later artists interested in memory, place, and material tradition.