Nathan Isaiovych Altman (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: ,

transliterated Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

: ''Natan Isaiovych Altman''; – December 12, 1970) was a Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian artist,

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

stage designer Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

and book

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

Early life

He was born in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...

, in the

Podolia Governorate The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate (), set up after the Second Partition of Poland, was a governorate (''gubernia'', ''province'', or ''government'') of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1 ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) to a family of Jewish merchants.

Career

From 1902 to 1907, he studied painting and sculpture at the

Art College An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

(now independent

). In 1906, he had his first exhibition in Odessa. In 1910, he went to Paris, where he stayed for one year. He studied at the Free Russian Academy in Paris, working in the studio of

Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine Wladimir is a masculine given name. It is an alternative spelling of the name Vladimir. Notable people with the name include: * Wladimir Brunet de Presle (1809–1875), French historian * Wladimir de Schoenefeld (1816–1875), German-French botani ...

, and had contact with

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...

, and

David Shterenberg David Petrovich Shterenberg (russian: Давид Петрович Штеренберг; Zhitomir – May 1, 1948 Moscow) was a Ukrainian-born Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist. Life Born to a Jewish family in Zhitomir, Ukraine, Shterenb ...

. In 1910, he became a member of the group ''

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 1912, Altman moved to

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 ...

. His famous ''Portrait of Anna Akhmatova'', conceived in

style, was painted in 1914. From 1915 to 1917, Nathan Altman was the teacher at Mikhail Bernstein's private art school. After 1916 he started to work as a

. In 1918, he was the member of the Board for Artistic Matters within the Department of Fine Arts of the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment together with Malevich, Baranoff-Rossine and Shevchenko. In the same year he had an exhibition with the group ''Jewish Society for the Furthering of the Arts'' in Moscow, together with Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine,

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

and the others. In this same year, he installed a temporary work of architectural sculpture in

Palace Square Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐˈrtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg a ...

to commemorate the 1st anniversary of 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 ...

. The canvas was subsequently cut up and used for soldiers' foot bindings.The Anniversaries of the October Revolution, 1918-1927
by Susan M. Corbesero,

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

2005, accessed 7 December 2008 In 1920, he became a member of the ''Institute for Artistic Culture'' (INKHUK), together with Kasimir Malevich,

Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, whi ...

and the others. In the same year, he participated in the exhibition ''From Impressionism to Cubism'' in the Museum of Painterly Culture in

Petrograd 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 ...

.(now Saint Petersburg). In 1921, he moved to Moscow. From 1921 to 1922 he was director of the Museum of Painterly Culture in Petrograd. Natan Altman - The Woman at the Piano, 1914

Natan Altman - The Woman at the Piano, 1914

From 1920 to 1928, he worked on stage designs for the

Habimah Theatre The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...

and the Jewish State Theatre in Moscow. In 1923 a volume of his Jewish graphic art, ''Evrejskaja grafika Natana Al'tmana: Tekst Maksa Osborna ax Osborn', was published in Berlin. In 1925, he participated in ''

Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (french: Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes) was a World's fair held in Paris, France, from April to October 1925. It was designed by the Fren ...

'' (''

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

'') in Paris together with

Aleksandra Ekster Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

Vadim Meller Vadym Meller or Vadim Meller, (russian: Вадим Георгиевич Меллер; uk, Вадим Георгійович Меллер, 1884–1962) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian USSR, Soviet Painting, painter, avant-garde Cubist, Constructivism ...

, Rudolf Frentz,

Sonia Delaunay-Terk Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...

and

. His first solo exhibition in Leningrad was in 1926. Altman moved to Paris in 1928. In 1936, he returned to Leningrad (now

). He worked mainly for the theatre, as a book illustrator and an author of essays about art.

Death

Nathan Altman died in Leningrad aged 81. The apartment building House of Specialists at 61-1 Lesnoy Prospekt features acommemorativ
plaque
in honour of the artist.

Works

* ''Lady with a Dog''. Portrait of Esther Schwartzmann. 1911. Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard. 67.5 x 47.5 cm. The Russian Museum,

St. 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. * ''Jug and Tomatoes''. 1912. Oil on canvas. 69.5 x 49.5 cm. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg,

. * ''Portrait of Anna Akhmatova''. 1914. Oil on canvas. 123.5 x 103.2 cm. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg,

* ''Portrait of a Young Jew'' (Self-Portrait). 1916. Plaster of Paris, copper, wood. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg,

. (Sculpture) * ''Still Life. Colored Bottles and Planes''. 1918. Oil and plaster on canvas. 59.5 x 43.5 cm. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg,

. * ''Material Painting. Still Life with a White Jug''. 1919. Oil and enamel on canvas. 84.5 x 62 cm. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. * ''Composition with Material Objects''. 1920. Oil, enamel, glue, plaster and sawdust on canvas. 83 x 65.5 (oval). The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. * ''Self-Portrait''. 1926. Lead pencil on paper. 44.6 x 35.9 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. * ''Square in a Provincial Town''. 1926. Italian and lead pencil on paper. 51.2 x 36.6 cm. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. * ''Still Life''. Mixed technique on paper. 62.5 x 47 cm.

The Museum of Russian Art The Museum of Russian Art (TMORA), a nonprofit museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, is the only major institution in North America devoted entirely to Russian art and culture from the entire scope of Russia's history. The Museum was fo ...

Erevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

References

External links

*
Example of Nathan Altman's work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altman, Nathan 1889 births 1970 deaths Artists from Vinnytsia People from Vinnitsky Uyezd Ukrainian Jews 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters Jewish painters Jewish socialists Russian avant-garde Cubist artists Modern painters Members of the Leningrad Union of Artists Russian scenic designers Modernist theatre