Alexandre Benois | |
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Александр Бенуа | |
.jpg) Portrait byLéon Bakst, 1898 | |
| Born | 3 May 1870 Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Died | 9 February 1960 (aged 89) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Batignolles Cemetery, Paris |
| Citizenship | Russian, later French |
| Education | Saint Petersburg Imperial University |
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| Movement | Mir Iskusstva,Art Nouveau,Aesthetic |
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| Family | Benois |
Alexandre (Alexander) Nikolayevich Benois (Russian:Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́,romanized: Aleksandr Nikolayevich Benua; 3 May [O.S. 21 April] 1870[1][2] – 9 February 1960)[3] was a Russian artist, art critic, historian,preservationist and founding member ofMir iskusstva ("World of Art"), an art movement and magazine.[1][4] As a designer for theBallets Russes underSergei Diaghilev, Benois exerted what is considered a seminal influence on the modernballet andstage design.[4]
Alexandre was born into the artistic and intellectualBenois family, prominent members of the 19th- and early 20th-century Russianintelligentsia. His mother Camilla (Russian: Камилла Альбертовна Кавос, and then Бенуа) was the granddaughter ofCatterino Cavos.[5] His father wasNicholas Benois, a Russian architect. His brothers includedAlbert, a painter, andLeon, also a notable architect. His sister, Maria, married the composer and conductorNikolai Tcherepnin (with whom Alexandre would work). Not planning a career in the arts, Alexandre graduated from the Faculty of Law,Saint Petersburg Imperial University, in 1894.
Three years later while inVersailles, Benois painted a series ofwatercolors depictingLast Promenades ofLouis XIV. When exhibited byPavel Tretyakov in 1897, they brought him to attention ofSergei Diaghilev and the artistLéon Bakst. Together the three men founded the art magazine and movementMir iskusstva (World of Art), which promoted theAesthetic Movement andArt Nouveau in Russia.[4]
During the first decade of the new century, Benois continued to editMir iskusstva, but also pursued his scholarly and artistic interests. He wrote and published severalmonographs on 19th-century Russian art andTsarskoye Selo. In 1903, Benois printed his illustrations toPushkin's poemThe Bronze Horseman, a work since recognized as one of the landmarks in the genre. In 1904, he published his "Alphabet in Pictures", at once a children's primer and elaborate art book, copies of which fetch as much as $10,000US at auction.[6] Illustrations from this volume were featured at a video presentation during theopening ceremony of theWinter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of theMariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the performance space for theImperial Russian Ballet. He moved to Paris in 1905 and thereafter devoted most of his time to stage design and decor.[4]
During these years, his work with Diaghilev'sBallets Russes was groundbreaking. His sets and costumes for the productions ofLes Sylphides (1909),Giselle (1910), andPetrushka (1911), are counted among his greatest triumphs. Although Benois worked primarily with the Ballets Russes, he also collaborated with theMoscow Art Theatre and other notable theatres ofEurope.
Surviving the upheaval of theRussian Revolution of 1917, Benois achieved recognition for his scholarship; he was selected as curator of the gallery ofOld Masters in theHermitage Museum atLeningrad, where he served from 1918 to 1926. During this time he secured his brother's heirloomLeonardo da Vinci painting of theMadonna for the museum. It became known as theMadonna Benois. Benois published hisMemoirs in two volumes in 1955.
In 1927 he left Russia and settled in Paris.[1] He worked primarily as a set designer after settling in France.[1]
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In 1894, Alexandre marriedAnna Karlovna Kind [ru] from a renowned Russian musical family. They first met in 1876 when Alexandre was learning music from the family patriarch, Karl Ivanovich Kind (who first came to Russia in the late 1840s, becoming afirst violinist in the orchestra of the Saint Petersburg opera).[7] Alexandre played a central role in the Russian artistic community both before and after the Revolution. Anna was always by his side. Her presence was positively remembered in the artistic circles with several mentions by artist likeMstislav Dobuzhinsky. She was a model painted byLéon Bakst,[8]Valentin Serov,[9]Zinaida Serebriakova,[10] and others.
Notable family members include:
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"Бенуа, художники" .Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
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