Iskandar Ikromov

Iskandar Ikromov was born on 15 April 1904 in Tashkent. Drawn to art from childhood, he received a traditional upbringing and knew the history of Islamic culture, Arabic script, Uzbek music and applied art. In 1922–1924 he studied at the Turkestan regional art school, and from 1925 he learned the craft of the book at the Leningrad Art and Industry Technical School, graduating in 1929.

In his youth his caricatures appeared in the satirical magazine “Mushtum”, whose editors included Abdulla Qodiriy and G‘ozi Yunus. From 1929 to 1959 Ikromov headed the design department of the State Publishing House of Uzbekistan, one of the country’s first printing designers. In the 1930s he designed the journals “Yangi yo‘l”, “Maorif va o‘qituvchi” and “Alanga”, taught at the Samarkand teacher-training school and other colleges, and wrote drawing manuals (“Uzbek Cursive Script for Drawing”, 1932; a drawing handbook and “Let Us Learn to Write Letters”, 1935).

His book graphics rest on the tradition of Uzbek naqsh ornament: he drew on motifs such as “qush jadval”, “tamg‘a” and “islimi”, and on geometric and floral patterns. His first major experiments were the score of Vasily Uspensky’s musical drama “Farhad and Shirin” (1937), Muqimi’s poems (1938) and “Uzbek Folk Songs” (1939). Later, for the 500th and 525th anniversaries of Alisher Navoi, he designed the “Khamsa”, the four-volume “Khazain ul-maani” (1959–1960) and the collection “Lyrics” (1964), as well as the first book of Ibn Sina’s “Canon of Medicine” (1954), the multi-volume “Uzbek Folk Music” (1955), Qodiriy’s “Selected Works” (1958), Oybek’s novel “Navoi” and Navoi’s “Works” (1968–1970).

Books he designed won a diploma and a medal at the International Book Exhibition in Leipzig in 1959. That year he was appointed chairman of the board of the Union of Artists of Uzbekistan, a post he held until 1965. In 1944 he was named People’s Artist of the Uzbek SSR; he also received two orders and medals.

In 1964, for the artist’s 60th birthday, an exhibition of his work was held at the State Museum of Arts; a catalogue of his book graphics appeared in 1965 and S. Krukovskaya’s monograph on him in 1967. Iskandar Ikromov died on 6 November 1972.