Alexander Osmerkin
Encyclopedia
Alexander Alexandrovich Osmerkin was a Russian painter
, graphic artist, stage designer, and art teacher. He was a member of the Knave of Diamonds avant-garde group, AKhRR
, and Society of Moscow Artists (OMKh) groups. Since 1932 he was a member of the Leningrad Artist Union.
) into the family of a post-office clerk. Young Osmerkin was raised by his Ukrainian nanny, who eventually stayed with him through the rest of his life as his personal assistant. He took his first art lessons at the drawing department at Elisavetgrad Regional Professional School under a Peredvizhnik painter Feodosy Kozachinskiy.
Professional School of Art. In Kiev he met Alexandra Exter and other avant-garde artists, who cast influenced on his vision and style. Although he cited Paul Cézanne
as his main influence, Osmerkin absorbed from many sources and styles, before he created his own. He turned to Fauvism
after seeing works of Henri Matisse
and André Derain
and other Fauvists. He visited St. Petersburg several times to study art at museums, and also made numerous landscapes in his own manner blending classical St. Petersburg cityscapes with his Fauvist touch. Eventually he settled in Moscow and joined Ilya Mashkov
artistic studio. He followed his teacher and became the youngest artist in "The Jack of Diamond" group.
in Moscow. At first he taught alongside Vassili Kandinsky, until the latter emigrated. Then Osmerkin opened his own workshop and also taught at the Surikov Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow. There his circle included such names as poet Osip Mandelstam
, writers Osip Brik
and Viktor Shklovsky
, as well as his fellow artists from the "Bubnovy Valet" group.
. There, upon invitation form Isaac Brodsky, he taught at his master's workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Arts
on Vasilevsky Island. In 1927 his canvas "Red Guards at the Winter Palace" , also known as "Takeover of the Winter Palace" was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Russian Museum in Leningrad. In 1927 Osmerkin took part in the major art show at the State Russian Museum, where his works were exhibited alongside the works of Marc Chagall
, David Burlyuk, Natalia Goncharova
, Mikhail Larionov
, Vasili Kandinsky, Robert Falk
, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
, Pyotr Konchalovsky
and other masters of Russian
art. At that time Osmerkin moved forward with his style, because the peak of avant-garde movements was over right after the revolution, and some trends were losing their novelty, so he embraced a classic and more traditional system of figurative and plastic imagery. He was also able to show his works at the Leningrad Academy of Arts, as well as at Union of Leningrad Artists, he also showed his works at the Leningrad Writers Club, with the help of his friends. In 1937 he made stage design for Pushkins play "Mozart and Salieri
" at Bolshoi DramaTheatre. Osmerkin was a head of personal workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Art (since 1932 Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, since 1944 Ilia Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture) and was a one from founders of the Leningrad School of painting . He had a number of talented students in Leningrad, such as Elena Skuin
e, Victor Teterin
, Evgenia Baykova, Lev Orekhov, Ivan Godlevsky, Gleb Savinov
, Olga Bogaevskaya
, V. Savitsky, Evsei Moiseenko and other artists.
, was doomed to suffer from the Soviet officialdom under dictatorship of Joseph Stalin
. He saw the destruction of cultural environment, private art collections, museums and libraries. Osmerkin survived the first wave of massive extermination of Russian intellectuals. He was emotionally devastated by the arrest and execution of his friend Osip Mandelstam
. During the 1940s and 1950s Osmerkin enjoyed a continuous friendship with poet Anna Akhmatova
.
In 1946, the Soviet Communist Party started attacks on intellectuals and creative artists. Along with other victims of Stalins dictatorship, such as Anna Akhmatova
and Mikhail Zoshchenko
, Osmerkin was accused of formalism
, and spreading western influence to Soviet art. He was banned from teaching and exhibiting his works, so he was left without any income. During his last years, Osmerkin was completely cut off from the Soviet public life and became an underground artist, who expressed himself in painting. He died on 25 June 1953 while working on a landscape painting near Moscow. Alexander Osmerkin was interred in Vagankovo Cemetery
in Moscow.
and Museum of Fine Arts
in Moscow, as well as at State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and many other museums internationally, also in private collections.
in New York City.
and cubism
. Later, not unlike another Jack of Diamonds, Robert Falk
he was inspired with the experiments with the colors. Later in his life he became a neo-impressionist
.
Osmerkin's successes were mostly connected with chamber landscapes, still lifes and portraits. He also provided some Socialist Realism
paintings like portraits of Stakhanovite
s or Taking the Winter Palace
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, graphic artist, stage designer, and art teacher. He was a member of the Knave of Diamonds avant-garde group, AKhRR
AKhRR
The Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia , later known as Association of Artists of the Revolution was a group of artists in the Soviet Union in 1928-1933...
, and Society of Moscow Artists (OMKh) groups. Since 1932 he was a member of the Leningrad Artist Union.
Childhood
Alexander Osmerkin was born in Elisavetgrad (now Kirovohrad, UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) into the family of a post-office clerk. Young Osmerkin was raised by his Ukrainian nanny, who eventually stayed with him through the rest of his life as his personal assistant. He took his first art lessons at the drawing department at Elisavetgrad Regional Professional School under a Peredvizhnik painter Feodosy Kozachinskiy.
Artistic development
In 1911–1913 Alexander Osmerkin moved to Kiev to continue his education in art. He attended classes at KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
Professional School of Art. In Kiev he met Alexandra Exter and other avant-garde artists, who cast influenced on his vision and style. Although he cited Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
as his main influence, Osmerkin absorbed from many sources and styles, before he created his own. He turned to Fauvism
Fauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
after seeing works of Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
and André Derain
André Derain
André Derain was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.-Early years:...
and other Fauvists. He visited St. Petersburg several times to study art at museums, and also made numerous landscapes in his own manner blending classical St. Petersburg cityscapes with his Fauvist touch. Eventually he settled in Moscow and joined Ilya Mashkov
Ilya Mashkov
Ilya Ivanovich Mashkov was a Russian artist, one of the most significant and at the same time most characteristic painters of the circle of "Jack of Diamonds" .He was born in the cossack village Mikhailovskaya-on-Don in a peasant family...
artistic studio. He followed his teacher and became the youngest artist in "The Jack of Diamond" group.
After Revolution
Since 1918 Osmerkin worked as a Professor of Art, first in VKhUTEMASVKhUTEMAS
Vkhutemas ) was the Russian state art and technical school founded in 1920 in Moscow, replacing the Moscow Svomas. The workshops were established by a decree from Vladimir Lenin with the intentions, in the words of the Soviet government, "to prepare master artists of the highest qualifications for...
in Moscow. At first he taught alongside Vassili Kandinsky, until the latter emigrated. Then Osmerkin opened his own workshop and also taught at the Surikov Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow. There his circle included such names as poet Osip Mandelstam
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...
, writers Osip Brik
Osip Brik
Osip Maksimovich Brik , , Russian avant garde writer and literary critic, was one of the most important members of the Russian formalist school, though he also identified himself as one of the Futurists....
and Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Shklovsky
Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky was a Russian and Soviet critic, writer, and pamphleteer.-Life:...
, as well as his fellow artists from the "Bubnovy Valet" group.
Leningrad
During the 1920s and 1930s Osmerkin lived and worked in LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. There, upon invitation form Isaac Brodsky, he taught at his master's workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
on Vasilevsky Island. In 1927 his canvas "Red Guards at the Winter Palace" , also known as "Takeover of the Winter Palace" was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Russian Museum in Leningrad. In 1927 Osmerkin took part in the major art show at the State Russian Museum, where his works were exhibited alongside the works of Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, David Burlyuk, Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova was a Russian avant-garde artist , painter, costume designer, writer, illustrator, and set designer. Her great-aunt was Natalia Pushkina, wife of the poet Alexander Pushkin.-Life and work:...
, Mikhail Larionov
Mikhail Larionov
Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov was an avant-garde Russian painter.-Life and work:...
, Vasili Kandinsky, Robert Falk
Robert Falk
Robert Rafailovich Falk was a Russian painter.-Biography:Falk was born in Moscow in 1886. In 1903 to 1904 he studied art in the studios of Konstantin Yuon and Ilya Mashkov, in 1905 to 1909 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture with Konstantin Korovin and Valentin...
, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin, was an important Russian and Soviet painter and writer.-Early years:...
, Pyotr Konchalovsky
Pyotr Konchalovsky
Pyotr Konchalovsky , was a Russian painter, a member of Jack of Diamonds group.-Life and career:...
and other masters of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
art. At that time Osmerkin moved forward with his style, because the peak of avant-garde movements was over right after the revolution, and some trends were losing their novelty, so he embraced a classic and more traditional system of figurative and plastic imagery. He was also able to show his works at the Leningrad Academy of Arts, as well as at Union of Leningrad Artists, he also showed his works at the Leningrad Writers Club, with the help of his friends. In 1937 he made stage design for Pushkins play "Mozart and Salieri
Mozart and Salieri
Mozart and Salieri is a one-act opera in two scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, written in 1897 to a Russian libretto taken almost verbatim from Alexander Pushkin's 1830 verse drama of the same name....
" at Bolshoi DramaTheatre. Osmerkin was a head of personal workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Art (since 1932 Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, since 1944 Ilia Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture) and was a one from founders of the Leningrad School of painting . He had a number of talented students in Leningrad, such as Elena Skuin
Elena Skuin
Elena Petrovna Skuin – Soviet, Russian – Latvian painter, watercolorist, graphic artist, and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad, a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for her still life painting.-...
e, Victor Teterin
Victor Teterin
Victor Kuzmich Teterin - Soviet, Russian painter, watercolorist, and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad, regarded by one art historian as one of the brightest representatives of the Leningrad school of painting.- Biography :...
, Evgenia Baykova, Lev Orekhov, Ivan Godlevsky, Gleb Savinov
Gleb Savinov
Gleb Alexandrovich Savinov - Soviet, Russian painter, Art teacher, Honored Artist of Russian Federation, lived and worked in Leningrad, regarded as one of the leading representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for his genre and portrait painting.- Biography :Gleb...
, Olga Bogaevskaya
Olga Bogaevskaya
Olga Borisovna Bogaevskaya was a Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad. He was a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, regarded as one of the leading representatives of the Leningrad School of painting.- Biography :Olga...
, V. Savitsky, Evsei Moiseenko and other artists.
Under Stalin
Osmerkin, as a highly original artist who contributed to development of the Russian avant-gardeRussian avant-garde
The Russian avant-garde is an umbrella term used to define the large, influential wave of modern art that flourished in Russia approximately 1890 to 1930 - although some place its beginning as early as 1850 and its end as late as 1960...
, was doomed to suffer from the Soviet officialdom under dictatorship of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. He saw the destruction of cultural environment, private art collections, museums and libraries. Osmerkin survived the first wave of massive extermination of Russian intellectuals. He was emotionally devastated by the arrest and execution of his friend Osip Mandelstam
Osip Mandelstam
Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam was a Russian poet and essayist who lived in Russia during and after its revolution and the rise of the Soviet Union. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets...
. During the 1940s and 1950s Osmerkin enjoyed a continuous friendship with poet Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
.
In 1946, the Soviet Communist Party started attacks on intellectuals and creative artists. Along with other victims of Stalins dictatorship, such as Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
and Mikhail Zoshchenko
Mikhail Zoshchenko
-Biography:Zoshchenko was born in 1895, in Poltava, but spent most of his life in St. Petersburg / Leningrad. His Ukrainian father was a mosaicist responsible for the exterior decoration of the Suvorov Museum in Saint Petersburg. The future writer attended the Faculty of Law at the Saint Petersburg...
, Osmerkin was accused of formalism
Russian formalism
Russian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. It includes the work of a number of highly influential Russian and Soviet scholars such as Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Vladimir Propp, Boris Eichenbaum, Roman Jakobson, Grigory Vinokur who...
, and spreading western influence to Soviet art. He was banned from teaching and exhibiting his works, so he was left without any income. During his last years, Osmerkin was completely cut off from the Soviet public life and became an underground artist, who expressed himself in painting. He died on 25 June 1953 while working on a landscape painting near Moscow. Alexander Osmerkin was interred in Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagankovo Cemetery
Vagan'kovskoye Cemetery , established in 1771, is located in the Krasnaya Presnya district of Moscow...
in Moscow.
Heritage
Alexander Osmerkin created over 700 works of art in a variety of genres. His paintings and drawings may be found at the Tretyakov GalleryTretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection,...
and Museum of Fine Arts
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour....
in Moscow, as well as at State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and many other museums internationally, also in private collections.
Family
Osmerkin's son Gennady Osmerkin is also an artist, as well as an industrial designer. He is a professor at FITFit
Fit or FIT may refer to:Fitness* Physical fitness, how well a person is suited for physical tasks* FitTV, cable television network about physical fitness* Wii Fit, Nintendo Wii video game about physical fitness...
in New York City.
Pupils
- Osipov, Sergei Ivanovich
- Elena SkuinElena SkuinElena Petrovna Skuin – Soviet, Russian – Latvian painter, watercolorist, graphic artist, and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad, a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for her still life painting.-...
- Savinov, Gleb Alexandrovich
- Bogaevskaya, Olga Borisovna
- Teterin, Victor Kuzmich
- Orekhov, Lev Nikolaevich
- Baykova, Evgenia Vasilievna
Works
As all of the Jacks of Diamonds he consider himself a Cézanne-ist. He also was influenced by fauvismFauvism
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves , a short-lived and loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism...
and cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. Later, not unlike another Jack of Diamonds, Robert Falk
Robert Falk
Robert Rafailovich Falk was a Russian painter.-Biography:Falk was born in Moscow in 1886. In 1903 to 1904 he studied art in the studios of Konstantin Yuon and Ilya Mashkov, in 1905 to 1909 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture with Konstantin Korovin and Valentin...
he was inspired with the experiments with the colors. Later in his life he became a neo-impressionist
Neo-impressionism
Neo-impressionism was coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat’s greatest masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, marked the beginning of this movement when it first made its appearance at an exhibition...
.
Osmerkin's successes were mostly connected with chamber landscapes, still lifes and portraits. He also provided some Socialist Realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
paintings like portraits of Stakhanovite
Stakhanovite
In Soviet history and iconography, a Stakhanovite follows the example of Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov, employing hard work or Taylorist efficiencies to over-achieve on the job.- History :...
s or Taking the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...