Anatoly Ivanovich Konenko (Russian: Анато́лий Ива́нович Коне́нко; born 23 February 1954) is a microminiature painter and sculptor from the Russian city of Omsk. In 1996 he was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world's smallest book.
Anatoly Konenko | |
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Born | Anatoly Ivanovich Konenko 23 February 1954 Orsk of Soviet Union |
Known for | Painting |
Notable work | Shod flea |
Movement | Microminiature |
Konenko was born in the town of Orsk in the Orenburg region of Russia. His family later relocated to Kazakhstan. Konenko received a degree in technical architecture from The Omsk College of Civil Engineering. In 1982 he graduated from Omsk State Pedagogical University with a degree in graphic design. He has worked as a designer of eye-surgery instruments.[1]
Konenko began to create miniature works in 1981. Konenko's works often reference Russian fables and fairy tales; some of his most famous creations include "The Savvy Flea", "The Grasshopper Violinist" and "A Caravan of Camels in the Eye of the Needle".[2] Since 2007, his son has worked with him.
Konenko works in a variety of media, using human hair, poppy seeds, and rice as surfaces.[3] Some of his works include living animals. In 2011, he created a miniature aquarium to house a living tiny fish, complete with a net. It contained just two teaspoons of water, two fish, and some algae.[4] He can shoe a flea.[5]
Konenko has published more than 200 miniature books. His edition of Chekhov's Chameleon, issued in 1996 in Omsk, is printed on paper and includes 30 pages, 3 color illustrations, and a portrait of Chekhov, and measures 0,9 x 0,9 mm. It was published in an edition of 100 and is bound in gold, silver, and leather.[6] Anatoly Konenko has been listed in Guinness Book of Records for creating the book.[7] In 2010 Konenko issued a collection of miniature book volumes of Pushkin, Koltsov, Evtushenko.
Media related to Anatoly Konenko at Wikimedia Commons