Kriukov, Boris Ivanovich

Boris Ivanovich Kriukov was a Ukrainian-born painter, illustrator, theater artist, and graphic designer. He worked internationally and he specialized in book illustration. Kriukov began his studies in art at the Kiev Art School where he attended from 1913 to 1917. He later taught painting and drawing at the school. With a concentration in graphic art, Kriukov reportedly illustrated over 500 books during his lifetime. During World War II, he moved to L’vov and then to Krakow, Poland. By the mid-1940s, the artist was living in Austria where reportedly was painting under the pseudonym Ivan Usatenko.

In 1948 Kriukov emigrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina and then re-initiated his work in book illustration and design. As head illustrator at El Ateneo Editorial, the Argentinian publishing house, he illustrated classics such as, “Arabian Nights”, “The Divine Comedy”, “Don Quixote” (for which he won the Codex Editorial Prize in 1964), and others. He also won an award from Codex Publishing in Argentina for his work on the novel, “Don Segundo Sombra”. In Buenos Aires, the artist exhibited at the Müller, Witcomb and Van Riel galleries. In addition to book illustration, Kriukov designed the mosaic (“The Virgin and Child”) for the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Protection in Buenos Aires. Consequently, the cathedral also holds his unfinished canvas, “Nativity of Our Lord". From 1950, Kriukov held annual exhibitions of his works in Buenos Aires. In 1970, his monograph was published in Ukrainian, Spanish, and English by his wife, Olga Gurski. Posthumous exhibitions of his work have been held in New York, Toronto and Munich.