# Narbut School (Ukrainian Baroque Revival Graphics)

> A Kyiv graphic idiom of 1917 to 1920 in which Heorhiy Narbut recast Ukrainian Baroque, Cossack heraldry and folk motifs as crisp black-and-white pen drawing, hand-drawn lettering and framed emblems. It served the Ukrainian People's Republic on banknotes, stamps, charters and seals, and was taught at the Ukrainian State Academy of Arts, where Narbut was professor from 1917 and rector from 1918.

- Period: 1917–1920
- Where: Eastern Europe
- Origin: Kyiv, Ukraine; Heorhiy Narbut (1886-1920), a member of Mir iskusstva who trained in Saint Petersburg under Bilibin and Dobuzhinsky, moved to Kyiv in 1917. A Ukrainian state-identity tradition formed amid Russian imperial and Soviet framing, not a regional variant of Russian graphics; 'Little Russian' in the heraldry book title is that book's imperial-era name for Ukraine
- Branch: Pictorial & machine age
- Also known as: Ukrainian graphic design of the 1910s, Narbut and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/narbut-ukrainian-graphics/

## How it works

- Draw the image in crisp black line, adding spot colour sparingly for banknotes, stamps and painted plates.
- Build state documents and covers from Ukrainian Baroque and Cossack heraldic emblems, shields and cartouches.
- Letter titles and initials by hand, drawing them from Baroque and folk forms instead of setting a typeface.
- Enclose text and image in ornamental borders and symmetric frames.
- Treat national identity as a coherent system across currency, stamps, charters and books.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (characteristic)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (defining)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (defining)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (defining)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (characteristic)

### Tone & intent
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (characteristic)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (characteristic)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (occasional)

Avoids: Modular grid, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Straight photography, Gradients, Gloss & highlights, Visual tension, Ornament-free

Palette: #f1ead8, #111111, #7a1f1a, #c9a227, #2f4a73

Typefaces: Narbut's hand-drawn Ukrainian Baroque lettering and initials (Abetka, 1917-1919), Hand-drawn Cossack-baroque title lettering on charters and banknotes

Known for: Banknotes, postage stamps, charters, seals and coat of arms of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917-1920); Ukrainian alphabet book (Abetka) drawings and initials (1917, 1919); Gouache frontispiece for Kotliarevsky's Eneida (1919); Heraldic illustrations for Lukomsky and Modzalevsky's 'Little Russian' heraldry book (1914; the imperial-era title for Ukraine) and Cossack hetman coats of arms (1915); Ukraine's first definitive stamps (1992), based on Narbut's drawings

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Mir iskusstva Book Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mir-iskusstva.md) (1898–1927)
- Influenced by: [European Heraldry](https://stylogeny.com/styles/european-heraldry.md) (c. 1140–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Norwegian and Finnish National Romantic Graphics (Munthe & Karelianism)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nordic-national-romanticism.md) (1880–1922), 76% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Celtic Revival Illumination & Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/celtic-revival.md) (1861–1951), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Egyptian Cigarette Packaging (Cairo Tobacco Houses)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-cigarette-packaging.md) (1871–1970), 70% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bezalel School](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bezalel-school.md) (1906–1929), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mithila (Madhubani) Painting](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mithila-painting.md) (c. 1350–present), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Skønvirke (Danish Art Nouveau, Bindesbøll)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/skonvirke.md) (1890–1920), 65% alike

## Sources

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heorhiy_Narbut
- https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Нарбут_Георгій_Іванович
- https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CN%5CA%5CNarbutHeorhii.htm

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Narbut School (Ukrainian Baroque Revival Graphics)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/narbut-ukrainian-graphics/