, birth_date = , birth_place =

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

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 ...

, death_date = , death_place = St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, spouse = Patricia LeGrande Bongart , known_for =

Painting 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 ...

, orientation = , training = , movement = , notable_works = , patrons = Sergei Romanovich Bongart (; 1918–1985) was an American painter. Bongart is admired for his richly colored and emotionally expressive landscapes,

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s and

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s. He was best known as a colorist, working in exaggerated color, using dynamic but carefully controlled color relationships and extolling the virtues of approaching painting as "color first, subject last".

Early life and education

Bongart was born in

. He studied art in Kiev,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, before emigrating to the

in 1948. Bongart lived for six years in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, the location of his sponsor.

Career

In 1954 Bongart moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he founded an art school. He taught a number of aspiring young painters who later became well-known, nationally collected American artists—among them: Peter Liashkov, Del Gish, Sunny Apinchapong, Ron Lukus,

Rulon Hacking Rulon may refer to: Persons with the surname Rulon: *Kelly Rulon (born 1984), 2004 Olympian in water polo Persons with the given name Rulon: *Rulon C. Allred (1906-1977), leader of the Apostolic United Brethren *Rulon Davis (born 1982), defensive ...

Melinda Miles Melinda is a feminine given name. Etymology The modern name ''Melinda'' is a combination of "Mel" with the suffix "-inda". "Mel" can be derived from names such as Melanie meaning "dark, black" in Greek, or from Melissa (μέλισσα) meaning ...

, Patricia LeGrande Bongart, Susan Greaves,

James Dudley Slay James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

Don Sahli Don Sahli is an American painter. Biography Don Sahli made the decision to become a professional artist at a very early age. By age 16, he was selling his work and by 18, Sahli was exhibiting as an established painter. In 1982, he became frie ...

Ted Pressett TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

, George Phillips, and Ovanes Berberian, S.Burkett Kaiser In 1969 he established an art school in Idaho. He lived half the year in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

and the other half near Rexburg, Idaho. Much of his art reflects the rustic settings which reminded him of his homeland. A few weeks before his death Bongart got the last visit from one of his students. That happened in a Hospital near Geneva in Switzerland, where the hope was, to save his life with a cell therapy. The student was Guido Frick, a painter from Germany. He remembers his visit:” To see Sergei in this hospital bed was heartbreaking. He was half the man I met just a few months before at his last Idaho- workshop. He was so weak and fragile, he hardly could rise his arm to wave me to come in. Several pillows stabilized him, while halfway sitting in his bed. When I left, we both knew, this was the last time we have seen each other. On a stretcher he was brought back to Santa Monica and died there a few days later in a hospital”. Bongart's work is featured in prominent museums, and has received many awards, including a 1982 Gold Medal from the

National Cowboy Hall of Fame The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...

for his oil painting entitled "Spring Evening." In 1968, he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

as an Associate member. There are three books written to date about Bongart: * * *

References

External links

Sergei Bongart: Notes on Painting
* Jeffrey Morsebur
Sergei Bongart: From Kiev to Santa Monica
1918 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters Artists from Idaho Artists from Los Angeles Soviet expatriates in Czechoslovakia Soviet expatriates in Austria Soviet expatriates in Germany Soviet emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-stub