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1882 - 1949

Aleksandra Ekster

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A talented and original Ukrainian artist, a bright and influential representative of avant-garde painting and scenography. Her career was marked by constant innovative searches, as a result of which she made a significant contribution to the development of both Ukrainian and Russian painting avant-garde, decorative and applied art and scenography.

The studio school that Alexandra Alexandrovna opened in Kyiv laid the foundations for new methods of teaching fine art. Ekster participated in most of the exhibitions held until 1925 in the capitals of Russia and Ukraine, exhibited her works in Germany, France and the USA.

She was one of the first artists to receive lifetime recognition, as evidenced by numerous articles in periodicals of various countries, in particular, an illustrated monograph written in four languages by J. Tugendhold, a famous art critic and influential connoisseur of new French art (1922, Berlin).

Key ideas:

– The artist’s early works of the 1910s, which are mainly landscapes and still lifes, show that the artist was under the strong influence of French modern painting.

– Fascinated by Cubism and Futurism through personal acquaintance with its representatives, Ekster created original compositions, often using the collage method. The artist was convinced that Cubism was an art movement that managed to make a global shift in the understanding of composition: the integrity of the plane of the painting was affirmed – the same importance was given to subject areas and spatial zones (backgrounds).

– In the author’s pointless compositions, her addiction to decorativeness and passion for naive art are noticeable – Ekster was a big fan of Anna Sobachko’s work and considered the works of the representatives of the folk art to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

– Concerning the historical past, the artist was interested in the constructivist-geometric art of the Etruscans – she learnt it better during her travels around Italy in 1910 and 1912.

– In the artist’s applied art, her cubofuturism found a harmonious place in the new theater – in particular, in a complete scenography for the productions of A. Tairov (in particular, “Salome”, 1917). The unusual costumes and no less avant-garde scenery created by the artist impressed the viewer with their special three-dimensionality, emphasized plastics and vivid sonority of colours. Emphasizing the innovation of Ekster, Tairov wrote that she invented a vertical scene in 1921. She replaced the canvas decoration with pure light – the most powerful non-material decoration of the production.

– Ekster was convinced that it is hard to understand contemporary art if you do not understand modern poetry: the melody of poetry is like colour in painting. She herself knew literature well, was friends with Apollinaire, Akhmatova and Livshits, Kuzmin and Gumilyov, Khlebnikov and Mayakovsky, and created illustrations for Rimbaud and Sappho.

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1882

1901

1907

1909

1914

1915

1918

1923

1924

1926

1936

1949

The birth of the artist

Aleksandra Ekster was born on January 6 in 1882 in Bialystok, Russian Empire (now Poland).

She began to study as a free-listener at the Kyiv Art College

She began to study as a free-listener at the Kyiv Art College. Soon she married lawyer N. Ekster and set up a workshop in her house, which later became the center of avant-garde Kyiv art.

She went to Paris

She went to Paris, where she studied at the private academy La Grande Chaumière, met and talked with representatives of contemporary French art, Braque, Picasso, Leger, the Delaunay spouses, as well as Italian Futurists. Later she visited the workshop of A. Arkhipenko.

Communicated with European and left-wing domestic artists

Communicated with European and left-wing domestic artists, living alternately in Kyiv, St. Petersburg and Moscow, visiting Paris and travelling around Europe. She helped Burliuks organize the “Link” exhibition in Kyiv, Kherson, Yekaterinoslav, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Vilno. Exhibited her paintings at the Izdebsky Salon (Odessa); in the next two years, she presented her works together with different groups – “Wreath-Stefanos”, “Triangle” (Petersburg). The following year, she joined the association “Jack of Diamonds” and participated in its shows.

Became a member of the "Youth Union"

Became a member of the “Youth Union”, participated in the Paris Salon of Independents and the International Free Futuristic Exhibition. In Kyiv, she organized the avant-garde show “Ring”. The books “Milk of the Mares” (Kherson) and “The Wolf’s Sun” (B. Livshits, Moscow) with illustrations by Ekster were published.

The artist showed her paintings at the radical exhibition "Tram B"

The artist showed her paintings at the radical exhibition “Tram B” (14 large-scale cubo-futuristic works, including urban landscapes). She joined the group of Malevich – together with him and with the participation of L. Popova, O. Rozanova and A. Kruchyonykh, she organized the society “Supremus”. At the same time, she showed interest in applied arts, using cubist forms to create household items. Her theatrical creations became her bright self-expression: she painted the lobby and curtain at the Moscow Chamber Theater, designed the drama “Kifared” and Tairov’s production of “Salome”, etc.

She worked as a teacher at the Odesa Children's Art School

She worked as a teacher at the Odesa Children’s Art School, then at her studio in Kyiv, and two years later at Moscow art workshops. Her students were Tyshler, Redko, Meller, etc.

Collaborated with the Moscow atelier of fashion

Collaborated with the Moscow atelier of fashion, developed clothing designs, in particular, uniforms for the Red Army, invented designs for fabrics, made sketches of fancy costumes for Protazanov’s film “Aelita”; they determined the style of the film, which then became classic.

Decorated Soviet halls at the XIV International Exhibition in Venice

Decorated Soviet halls at the XIV International Exhibition in Venice, the exhibitor of which she was. Moved to Paris to create an exposition of the Soviet department. At the World Exhibition of Decorative Arts, her work was awarded a gold medal. She did not return to her homeland.

She taught stage design at the Paris Academy of Modern Art

At the invitation of F. Leger, she taught stage design at the Paris Academy of Modern Art; her works were presented at the New York International Exhibition and at the famous “Machine age exhibition” organized by A. Barr in MoMA a year later; her exhibition in the Berlin gallery “Der Sturm» was entirely dedicated to the scenography of Ekster.

Took part in the vernissage “Cubism and abstract art”

Took part in the vernissage “Cubism and abstract art” (New York), as a result of which her name, along with the name of Malevich, Lissitzky, Rodchenko, entered the history of contemporary art completely. A year later, her large solo exhibition “Divadlo” took place at the Prague Art and Industry Museum; its catalogue included 116 items.