"Palekh Artists Village", published by Progress Publishers, Moscow, undated [1970s Soviet era], the text and picture descriptions are parallel in Russian, English, German and French. The book is about artists, painting school, history and style of the Palekh lacquer painting art. Fully illustrated in color.

Palekh miniature is a Russian folk handicraft of a miniature painting, which is done with tempera paints on varnished articles made of papier-mache (small boxes, cigarette and powder cases etc.).

Palekh Russian lacquer art on papier-mache first appeared in 1923 in the village of Palekh, located in the Palekhsky District (Ivanovo Oblast), and is based on a long local history of icon painting. This handicraft and style of miniature painting bore different names throughout its development, such as the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting (since 1924), Palekh Artists Association (since 1932), and Artistic Production Workshops of the Artistic Fund of the USSR (since 1953 through 1990s). Poetic magic of the Palekh characters, decorativeness of landscapes and architecture, and elongated proportions of the figures go back to the icon-painting traditions. The miniatures are usually set off with a complicated pattern made with gold dissolved in aqua regia. Palekh is the most renowned of four such famous villages, the others being Kholuy, Mstyora, and Fedoskino, each producing similar, but clearly distinct artistic style.

The art of miniature painting is still alive today. Nowadays there are workshops of the Artistic Fund of Russia, as well as small private studios and independent artists in Palekh. Palekh miniature artists are trained at the Palekh Art College founded in 1935. Works by Palekh masters are kept in numerous museums of Russia and abroad. The State Palekh Art Museum in Palekh boasts the biggest miniature painting collection, comprising over two thousand works.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ---------- $9.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) --- $22.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ---- $31.50

Hard boards, 6” x 8.3/4”; illustrated endpapers, unpaginated [c.60 pages]; fully illustrated in color, printed on glossy paper, a little wear, very good/ fine condition.