Nathan Isaevich Altman (; ; – 12 December 1970) was a

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

artist,

stage designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

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 complicate ...

. Born in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; , ) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It serves as the administrative centre, administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast. It is the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. It also s ...

(now Ukraine), he worked in Russia, France, and the Soviet Union. His works combine elements of

Cubo-Futurism Cubo-Futurism () was an art movement, developed within Russian Futurism, that arose in the early 20th-century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo-Futur ...

and

Suprematism Suprematism () is an early 20th-century art movement focused on the fundamentals of geometry (circles, squares, rectangles), painted in a limited range of colors. The term ''suprematism'' refers to an abstract art based upon "the supremacy of p ...

Early life

Altman was born in

, in the

Podolia Governorate Podolia Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessar ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now Ukraine) to a family of Jewish merchants. He studied in a religious Jewish school (

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

), then in a public elementary school in Vinnytsia.

Career

From 1902 to 1907, he studied painting and sculpture at the Odessa Art School. 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 Aïtoff (1879–1963), French rugby player * Wladimir Balentien (born 1984), Dutch outfielder for the Seatt ...

, and had contact with

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculpture, sculptor, and graphic designer, graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles o ...

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

Soyuz Molodyozhi Soyuz Molodyozhi (Union of the Youth, ) 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 participated in their exhibitions. Th ...

'' (Union of Youth). He also befriended Jewish intellectuals such as

Chaim Nachman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik (; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934) was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew and Yiddish. Bialik is considered a pioneer of modern Hebrew poetry, part of the vanguard of Jewish thinkers who gave voice to a new spirit ...

. In 1912, Altman moved to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

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

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

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 The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; , directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most other issues related to culture. In 1 ...

together with

Malevich Kazimir Severinovich 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 El Lissitzky (, born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky , ; – 30 December 1941), was a Soviet Jewish artist, active as a painter, illustrator, designer, printmaker, photographer, and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant-garde, h ...

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=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersb ...

to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. 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 Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

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, ...

and the others. In the same year, he participated in the exhibition ''From Impressionism to Cubism'' in the Museum of Painterly Culture in Petrograd, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

). In 1921, he moved to Moscow. From 1921 to 1922 he was director of the Museum of Painterly Culture in Petrograd. From 1920 to 1928, he worked on stage designs for the

Habimah Theatre The Habima Theatre ( ''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 Habima was founded as an ...

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 1924, he designed the sets for the film '' Jewish Happiness''. In 1925, he participated in '' Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes'' (''

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

'') in Paris together with

Aleksandra Ekster Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster (née Grigorovich; ; ; 18 January 1882 – 17 March 1949), also known as Alexandra Exter, was a Russian and French painter and designer. As a young woman, her studio in Kiev attracted all the city's creative lum ...

Vadim Meller Vadym Heorhiiovych Meller (; 26 April 1884 – 4 May 1962) was a Ukrainian and Soviet painter, avant-garde Cubist, Constructivist and Expressionist artist, theatrical designer, book illustrator, and architect. In 1925 he was awarded a gold me ...

, Rudolf Frentz, Sonia Delaunay-Terk and David Shterenberg. His first solo exhibition in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia) was in 1926. Altman moved to Paris in 1928. In 1936, he returned to Leningrad. 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 The State Russian Museum (), formerly known as the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (), on Arts Square in Saint Petersburg, is the world's largest depository of Russian fine art. It is also one of the largest art museums in ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. * ''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.

Erevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

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 Russian cubist artists Ukrainian cubist artists Russian modern painters Members of the Leningrad Union of Artists Russian scenic designers Modernist theatre 20th-century Russian illustrators 20th-century Ukrainian illustrators Jewish Russian painters Jewish Ukrainian painters 20th-century Russian Jews 20th-century Ukrainian Jews Soviet Jews Russian expatriates in France Soviet expatriates in France