back

1883 - 1948

Aleksandr Shevchenko

description

A Russian avant-garde painter of Ukrainian origin, a graphic artist and art theorist. The name of Aleksander Shevchenko is found in the catalogues of all significant exhibitions of progressive associations and groups – “World of Art” and “Union of Youth”, “Jack of Diamonds” and “Donkey’s Tail”. Undeniable is Shevchenko’s contribution to the theoretical justification of the value of primitive art, the further use of the techniques of cubism and futurism, as well as the theory of “colour dynamos” based on a combination of the latest and archaic forms of pictorial art that he developed together with A. Grishchenko.

Shevchenko became the organizer and chairman of the “Workshop of painters”, who advocated easel art. As a teacher, he invited many of his students to join this movement. Despite his departure from the radical avant-garde, he was criticized as a “formalist” more than once.

Paintings of the master are presented in the largest collections of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum and many regional galleries and museums in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Key ideas:

– Shevchenko was in the midst of a struggle for the latest forms in art but used traditional techniques more than other artists. According to Larionov, Shevchenko’s art surprisingly organically included forms of futurism, cubism, and even rayonism in academically constructed paintings. New forms attracted him rather not as a practical painter, but as an experimenter, researcher and theorist; this resulted in several treatises.

– His fascination with primitivism turned out to be the most persistent; Shevchenko wrote a work about it and used its techniques throughout his career. In the brochure “Neoprimitivism. Its theory. Its possibilities ”, he said about the need to restore traditions “distorted by Academism” through the synthesis of archaic and modern.

– In his later article “Colour-dynamos and tectonic primitivism”, the artist rejected the “appliedness” of art and defended the easel dynamical and pictorial painting as the most appropriate form of creativity.

– Quite late, in the 1920s, in search of plastic unity, the artist drew inspiration from paintings by Cezanne. In the works of that period, it is easy to find direct analogies with famous paintings of the French master.

– In the paintings and drawings of the 1930s, which often offer the Caucasian theme to the viewer, a progressive tendency towards greater monumentality in combination with the simplicity of motives and a stronger emotionality of colour are seen.

– In the last decade of his creative career, A. Shevchenko resorted to a romantic interpretation of landscapes, a unique lyricism in colours – he created paintings in the style of “quiet art”.

+ Read more

1883

1899

1905

1908

1910

1913

1914

1917

1919

1920

1922

1929

1940

1948

The birth of the artist

Aleksandr Shevchenko was born on May 12 in 1883 in Kharkov, Russian Empire.

Together with his family, he moved to Moscow

Together with his family, he moved to Moscow and entered the metalworking (decorative) department of the Stroganov Arts and Industrial School. After studying intermittently, he graduated from it in 1907.

In Paris, he studied at the private Academy of R. Julien

In Paris, he studied at the private Academy of R. Julien, where his teacher was Jean-Paul Laurens, and at the Academy of E. Carriere. In the same years, he traveled to Spain.

Entered the last year at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture

Entered the last year at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where his teachers were K. A. Korovin and A. E. Arkhipov. He met A. V. Kuprin, R. R. Falk, M. F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova. A year later, he was expelled from school.

Exhibited his paintings at the first exhibition of the Jack of Diamonds

Exhibited his paintings at the first exhibition of the Jack of Diamonds. After a split among the “left” artists, he joined the group of Larionov and Goncharova. He participated in exhibitions of the associations “World of Art” and “Union of Youth”. The next year, he exhibited his works at the Second Salon of V. A. Izdebsky and the Donkey Tail exhibition.

Published several theoretical works

Published several theoretical works: “Neoprimitivism. Its theory. Its features. Its achievements”, “The principle of Cubism and other art movements in the painting of all times and peoples”.

Exhibited his paintings at the futuristic exhibitions "Target" and "No. 4"

Exhibited his paintings at the futuristic exhibitions “Target” and “No. 4”. The following year, he was mobilized to the front, fought in Belarus and Lithuania, was shell-shocked and soon demobilized.

Became a member of the World of Art

Became a member of the World of Art. After the revolution, he headed the literary and art department of the College of Arts of the People’s Commissariat for Education, participated in the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Culture and Antiquities under the Moscow Soviet.

Organized the Museum of pictorial culture

Organized the Museum of pictorial culture, together with A. Grischeno, he published the manifesto “Tsvetodinamos and tectonic primitivism” in the catalogue of the exhibition of the same name with the postscript “The 12th State Exhibition”, where he presented 70 of his works and in which 36 students from free workshops took part.

He was appointed professor at the Higher Free Art Workshops

He was appointed professor at the Higher Free Art Workshops, taught at the Institute of Artistic Culture and joined the Moscow Association of Artists.

Became a member of the Union of Poets and Artists and "Art Is Life"

Became a member of the Union of Poets and Artists and “Art Is Life” (later renamed “Makovets”). Soon Shevchenko became the initiator and the first chairman of the association “Workshop of painters”, which included the majority of his students who shared the declared priority of freedom of painting and easel art.

The beginning of his annual creative trips to the Caucasus

The beginning of his annual creative trips to the Caucasus (Dagestan, Adjara, Azerbaijan). He became interested in the technique of monotype, which he got to know at the workshop of E. S. Kruglikova in Paris. Together with the members of the “Workshop of painters”, he participated in a traveling exhibition, organized first in Moscow (the 1st one, 1929), and shown in 20 cities of Russia, as well as in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, in the next two years.

He was appointed the head of the department of painting and drawing at the Textile Institute

He was appointed the head of the department of painting and drawing at the Textile Institute. Despite repeated criticism and condemnation “for formalism”, he continued to paint.