Aleksandr Vasilievich Shevchenko ( uk, Олександр Васильович Шевченко; 24 May 1882,

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) was a Ukrainian modernist painter and sculptor.

Biography

From 1890 to 1898, he took private drawing lessons from Dmytro Bezperchy and was employed by a workshop that produced theater sets. He then moved to Moscow and entered the Stroganov State Academy of Arts and Industry; graduating in 1907. That same year, he was admitted to the

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (russian: Московское училище живописи, ваяния и зодчества, МУЖВЗ) also known by the acronym MUZHZV, was one of the largest educational insti ...

, where he studied with

Valentin Serov Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era. Life and work Youth and educ ...

and

Konstantin Korovin Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (russian: Константи́н Алексе́евич Коро́вин, first name often spelled Constantin; 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Biography Youth and education Konstan ...

. In between, from 1905 to 1906, he spent some time in Paris at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

with

Étienne Dinet Nasreddine Dinet (born as Alphonse-Étienne Dinet on 28 March 1861 – 24 December 1929, Paris) was a French orientalist painter and was one of the founders of the Société des Peintres Orientalistes ociety for French Orientalist Painters He ...

and

Jean-Paul Laurens Jean-Paul Laurens (; 28 March 1838 – 23 March 1921) was a French painter and sculptor, and one of the last major exponents of the French Academic style. Biography Laurens was born in Fourquevaux and was a pupil of Léon Cogniet and Alexand ...

. He also made the acquaintance of

Mikhail Larionov Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (Russian: Михаи́л Фёдорович Ларио́нов; June 3, 1881 – May 10, 1964) was a Russian avant-garde painter who worked with radical exhibitors and pioneered the first approach to abstract Rus ...

and his followers. Under their influence, he worked in the

Neo-Primitivist Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

and, later, Rayonist styles. He was expelled from the school in 1909. After 1911, he took part in exhibitions held by the

Soyuz Molodyozhi Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of the Youth, russian: Союз молодёжи) was an artistic group and an art magazine of Russian avant-garde organized in 1910. There were more than 30 members of the group and most of other Russian avant-garde par ...

(Union of Youth) in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and participated in the first Moscow Salon. In 1912, he had a major showing with the

Donkey's Tail Donkey's Tail (, Romanized: Osliniy khvost) was a Russian artistic group created from the most radical members of the Jack of Diamonds group. The group included such painters as: Mikhail Larionov (inventor of the name), Natalia Goncharova, Kaz ...

, a radical modernist group. The following year, he published two works of art theory; ''"Neo-primitivism, its Theory, its Possibilities, its Achievements'' and ''The Principles of Cubism and Other Trends in World Art of All Times and All People''.Valentine Marcadé, ''Le Renouveau de l'art pictural russe 1863-1914'', L'Âge d'homme, Lausanne, 1971 In these works, he defends the spontaneity of Russian folk art and the

lubok A ''lubok'' (plural ''lubki'', Cyrillic: russian: лубо́к, лубо́чная картинка) is a Russian popular print, characterized by simple graphics and narratives derived from literature, religious stories, and popular tales. Lubki ...

popular print Popular prints is a term for printed images of generally low artistic quality which were sold cheaply in Europe and later the New World from the 15th to 18th centuries, often with text as well as images. They were some of the earliest examples of ...

style), and claims that it has "oriental" roots. From 1913 until 1921, he participated in the exhibitions organized by the magazine ''

Mir Iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize Eur ...

'' (The World of Art). For a brief period, he painted in the

Cubo-Futurist Cubo-Futurism (also called Russian Futurism or Kubo-Futurizm) was an art movement that arose in early 20th century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo- ...

atyle. He was called for service by the army in 1914, but was not mobilized until 1917, shortly before the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. After that, he was attached to the "Plastic Arts Section", established by the new

People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...

(NARKOMPROS) and was assigned to their college in Moscow, where he helped to direct the contemporary art workshop. Later, he taught at Vkhutemas and, typical for that time, was a member of numerous government committees. In 1920, he was named to the

Institute of Artistic Culture The Institute of Artistic Culture (russian: Институт Художественной Культуры abbreviated to ИНХУК/INKhUK) was a theoretical and research based Russian artistic organisation founded in March Moscow in 1920 and conti ...

. Throughout the 1920s, he was a regular participant in state-sponsored exhibitions; notably the

First Russian Art Exhibition The First Russian Art Exhibition (german: Erste Russische Kunstausstellung Berlin) was the first exhibition of Russian art held in Berlin following the Russian Revolution. It opened at the Gallery van Diemen, 21 Unter den Linden, on Sunday 15 Oct ...

in Berlin (1922). During the 1930s, he travelled to

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

, creating Orientalist works and gathering evidence for his theory on the origins of Russian art. The

Tatar The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

artist, Baqi Urmançe, was one of his students. After 1941, he headed the Department of Painting at the

Moscow State Textile University Moscow State Textile Institute (formerly A. N. Kosygin Moscow State Textile University) was formed in 1919. It is one of the oldest and institutes for higher studies in textiles in Russia. History In 1981, the institute was named in honor of Sov ...

. In his final years, he was accused of "Formalism", but was able to continue painting.

Selected works

File:Shevchenko-Lake.jpg, Landscape with a Lake File:Shevchenko Musicians.jpg, Musicians File:Shevchenko-Daughter.jpg, Portrait of the Artist's Daughter File:Alexander Shevchenko. Moscow outskirts. 1929.jpg, On the Outskirts of Moscow File:Shevchenko-Mirror.jpg, Portrait at the Mirror

References

Biography
@ Энциклопедия Кругосвет
Brief biography
@ Академик

External links

More works by Shevchenko
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Shevchenko, Aleksandr 1880s births 1948 deaths Neo-primitivism Russian avant-garde 20th-century Russian painters Ukrainian sculptors Ukrainian painters Ukrainian male sculptors Russian male painters Académie Julian alumni 20th-century Russian male artists Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry alumni