Perestroika enabled Boris, Karina and Strepet to have their first trip by car to the West - to France, Switzerland and Germany to renew and strengthen the friendships first forged in Moscow. 

Since then I am acting as his contact with the (especially sighthound) art world in the West. 

And who, then, is this Boris Diodorov? In the first place, a very well-known and respected artist in his home country, but also very much admired and sought after outside Russia.

Here are some very brief and dry personal statistics as an introduction: 
born in Moscow in 1934 as son of the designer Arcadi Diodorov, he attended the Special Art School for Children from 1946 to 1954, followed by V. Surikov's Art Institute in Moscow from 1954 to 1960. In 1971, he married the actress and poetess Karina, author of many popular modern songs, plays and books. 

He had his first Borzoi, Rogday, after finishing the Art Institute in 1960, followed by Otrada (1974-1987), Bagrian (1975-1983),  Strepet (1987-1997) and Petja"2" (1997) who is his constant companion now.

Boris Arkadjevitch Diodorov started in 1958 with book illustrations, since then he has illustrated in his own imaginative and meticulous fashion more than 300 books, half of them for children. A few are: 
Selma Lagerlof's "Niels Holgerson's Travel with the Wild Geese", the Grimm Borthers' tales, 
Hans Christian Anderson's fairy-tales "The Snow-Queen" and "The Mermaid" were also translated into French and published by "impomée - albin michel", 22 rue Huyghens, 75014 Paris. "La Reine des Neiges" (Snow Queen) in 1993 under ISBN No. 2 226 05491 - X and "La petite Sirène" (Mermaid) in 1998 under ISBN No. 2 226 07111 3. Both in size 24,5 x 30,5 cm. Even if one does not understand the French language, it is more than worth while to acquire these two works if only for the full-page colour reproductions by Boris Diodorov.

Below are two small details from Boris Diodorov's drawings contained in the above - mentioned two books.

Sergei Aksakov's "The Scarlet Flower", has been published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1250 Sixth Avenue, San Diego, California 92101 and 111 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10002, back in 1989. As told by Sergei Aksakov, it is thus available in English with the original full-colour illustrations by Boris Diodorov. 

Sergei Aksakov's book "The Scarlet Flower" is also full of adorable, small, subtile drawings like the ones below

Boris Diodorov has enriched such a work as "People" by Leo Tolstoj, "Poems and Prose" by I.S. Turgeniev and many, many others published in the Russian language, which were in part also translated into Japanese, with his pencil drawings so full of his special charme such as the lady with the Borzois or the tired wanderer.

In A.A. Milne's book "Winnie the Pooh" one discoveres a totally different kind of book illustration by Boris Diodorov, Indian ink and water colour. Here are two examples 

In 1992 Boris Diodorov and family arrived by car in the West for the second time. It was possible to arrange for a large exhibition of his work in Müllheim/Baden, Germany which proved to be a great success. During the three months of their stay, the Diodorovs lived in our holiday home in Badenweiler. During this period he became well-known in the Sighthound world and he received an amazing amount of orders from owners of Sighthounds from Germany, Switzerland and France. A provisioral studio was established and he painted full of dedication the various Sighthounds. Repeat orders became run of the mill. Owners of several dogs did not want merely want to have a painting of one, but of all of them. His paintings show quite clearly the exceptionally deep love and understanding of the soul of the Borzoi and can be experienced when looking at these wonderful creature he has portryed. He is able to capture the individual spirit, the expression, the very soul of the Borzoi in such a true-to-life manner and this even more so when he has been able to meet his model personally. One feels, when looking at the finished picture, that this lovely painted creature could start to move at any moment. During his stay he has painted over 50 pictures in Oil, Pencil drawings, Water colours and in Indian In.

Under "The Borzoi hobby Shop", section BORZOI PORTFOLIO - you can find a selection of his BORZOI pictures. This Portfolio also contains a autobiographical résumé with details of some of the awards and prizes received, participations at Exhibitions and his own Exhibitions in so many different countries. 

I have collected many different professional journals, illustrated papers, newspapers etc. in various languages. They all had one thing in common: enormous praise and admiration for this gifted artist Boris Diodorov.
One of the many honours and awards he has received is the Ivan Federov Prize (1980, 1987). This is the grand prize of the country's book art competition. It was awarded for the Diodorov illustrations of "Niels Holgerson's Travel with the Wild Geese" (1980), by Selma Lagerlof. In 1981 he received the Golden Apple Award at BIB-81 in Bratislava, CSSR, and in 1982 the Silver Medal at the IBA-82 in Leipzig (at that time DDR) for Selma Lagerlof's book about Niels Holgerson's travel. In 1988 he was the Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation for Artwork in Books, and in 1989 he received the special Prize of Bibliofils and Highest Diploma in The Book's Art competition for I.S. Turgenev's "Song of Spirit".

But what of the MAN inside this most remarkable person, this artist whose work projects such deep sensitivity, such profound humanity? He is a quiet family man with twinkling eyes who spends the time from spring to winter each year with his wife Karina and their constant companion, Petja"2", in their datscha in a little village on the Wolga River, where he works as usual, but he also takes time off to enjoy walks and hunts with Petja and now and then a bit of fishing, visited by his daughter Irina and granddaughters Maria (born in 1983) and Alexandra (born in 1999). The Diodorovs spend the winter near Moscow, where Boris works in his studio. Apart from illustrating books, he also paints portraits, landscapes and, of course, sometimes Borzois. That Boris Diodorov's love for the Borzoi is deep and full of understanding is clearly shown in his portayal of the different Borzois, where he captures in each individual just the specific character, the soul of his model, in an uncanny fashion.
So many works by Diodorov are drawn/painted under a magnifying glass, yet are perfect in the smallest detail.