If you're a paleofan of a certain age, this book may have rested on your shelf or beckoned from the library. This is a thread about its illustrator, George Solonevich.

Solonevich was born in Russia in 1915. The Russian Revolution came a few years later. The artist's father was a journalist & critical of the USSR, putting George (born Yuri) & his father in a concentration camp. I believe his mother was killed by a mail bomb intended for his dad.

Somehow he escaped the concentration camp and—on foot—reached Finland. He entered art school there & met Inga, a fellow artist who eventually became his wife. The couple had to leave Finland—the USSR was looking for him. The safest place from Stalin seemed to be Germany.

After WWII, Solonevich & family became refugees. Their journey to find a home landed them in Argentina while they waited for the paperwork to immigrate to the USA. They finally made it to America on a coffee freighter in 1953. (Below, a drawing by Inga of the refugee train)

The family settled outside of Roanoke, Virginia, hoping to open an art school. Those plans didn't come to fruition, so Solonevich worked as an illustrator. The majority of this work seems to be illustrations for books about outer space.

A lot of his work seems to have a curious three-dimensionality to it. Shadows and light play on the surfaces. I don't know how much impasto Solonevich used, but the reproductions in the books seem to indicate a liberal amount.

Let's get to "Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs." (1965)

This book fascinated me as a child because the illustrations were so weird. They were atmospheric and surreal, with an almost sculptural element to the images. They were like dinosaurs from a dream.

The original printing of the book features this almost apologist note at the beginning, acknowledging Solonevich's choice for of style over scientific accuracy. I'm curious why it was not included in subsequent editions.

And there were subsequent editions. Different printings of the book include different animals and different versions of the illustrations. I don't know why this was done.

I think it's a shame that this book is Solonevich's single entry into paleoart, but it's a whopper of an entry. I still look at the pictures today. They're loaded with charm & mystery.

Solonevich painted throughout his life. He passed away in 2003 at the age of 87.