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Paper, etching and its varieties. 238õ297 (160õ235). V. Gevorkyan`s Collection.
In 1895 Serov was commissioned by A.I. Mamontov to illustrate Krylov’s fables. The artist started to work with enthusiasm, he illustrated thirty seven fables, making drawings and etchings, some of them had lots of versions. In 1899 four etched boards were made. Three of them disappeared without a trace and only one - “The Wolf and the Shepherds” remained, that made it possible to print an edition and publish this etching as an enclosure to the ¹ 1-2 in 1900 “World of Art” magazine. Serov understood etching as a variety of free and easy drawing with a needle on the board, which was why he was biting his boards ever so slightly in order to preserve lightness and delicate silvery color of the metal surface. It was etching he was going to use for the fables illustrations during his last years; he signed an agreement with I. Knebel three days before his death, but this plan was not carried out.
