Alexandre Benois
Encyclopedia
Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois ' onMouseout='HidePop("61000")' href="/topics/Saint_Petersburg">St. Petersburg
9 February 1960, Paris
), an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva
(World of Art), an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballet Russes under Serge Diaghilev, Benois' influence on the modern ballet
and stage design is considered seminal.
, prominent members of the 19th and early 20th-century Russian intelligentsia
. His parents were Nicholas Benois
, a noted Russian architect. His brothers included Albert Benois
and brother Leon
; the latter also became a notable architect. Not planning a career in the arts, Alexandre graduated from the Faculty of Law, St. Petersburg University
in 1894.
, Benois painted a series of watercolors
depicting Last Promenades of Louis XIV
. When exhibited by Pavel Tretyakov
in 1897, they brought him to attention of Sergei Diaghilev
and the artist Leon Bakst
. Together the three men founded the art magazine and movement Mir iskusstva
(World of Art), which promoted the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau
in Russia.
During the first decade of the new century, Benois continued to edit Mir iskusstva, but also pursued his scholarly and artistic interests. He wrote and published several monograph
s on 19th-century Russian art and Tsarskoye Selo
. In 1903, Benois printed his illustrations to Pushkin's poem Bronze Horseman
, a work since recognized as one of the landmarks in the genre.
In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre
in St. Petersburg, the performance space for the Imperial Russian Ballet. After that, he devoted most of his time to stage design and decor.
During these years, his work with the Ballets Russes
, founded by Diaghilev, was groundbreaking. His sets and costumes for the productions of Les Sylphides
(1909), Giselle
(1910), and Petrushka (1911), are counted among his greatest triumphs. Although Benois worked primarily with the Ballets Russes, he also collaborated with the Moscow Art Theatre
and other notable theatres of Europe
.
Surviving the upheaval of the Russian Revolution of 1917
, Benois achieved recognition for his scholarship; he was selected as curator of the gallery of Old Masters in the Hermitage Museum
at Leningrad
, where he served from 1918 to 1926. During this time he secured his brother's heirloom Leonardo da Vinci
painting of the Madonna
for the museum. It became known as the Madonna Benois
. Benois published his Memoirs in two volumes in 1955.
. Benois was also the uncle of Eugene Lanceray
and Zinaida Serebriakova
, who became recognized Russian artists, and one of the great-uncles of the British
actor Sir Peter Ustinov
.
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
9 February 1960, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
), an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize European art during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1909, many of the miriskusniki also contributed to the Ballets Russes...
(World of Art), an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballet Russes under Serge Diaghilev, Benois' influence on the modern ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and stage design is considered seminal.
Early life and education
Alexandre was born into the artistic and intellectual Benois familyBenois family
The Benois family was a family of prominent 19th and 20th Century Russian artists, musicians, and architects, descended from French confectioner Louis Jules Benois, who came to Russia in 1794 after the French Revolution.-Prominent family members:...
, prominent members of the 19th and early 20th-century Russian intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
. His parents were Nicholas Benois
Nicholas Benois
Nicholas Benois was a Russian architect who worked in Peterhof and other suburbs of St Petersburg.Benois was born of French parents in Russia and studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1827 to 1836...
, a noted Russian architect. His brothers included Albert Benois
Albert Benois
Albert Nikolayevitch Benois was a talented Russian water-colorist. The Benois family produced many talented artists over several generations. Albert was the elder son of architect Nicholas Benois, brother of artist and theatrical designer Alexander Benois, uncle of the painter Zinaida...
and brother Leon
Leon Benois
Leon Benois was a Russian architect. He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandre Benois and Albert Benois, and the grandfather of the actor Sir Peter Ustinov...
; the latter also became a notable architect. Not planning a career in the arts, Alexandre graduated from the Faculty of Law, St. Petersburg University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
in 1894.
Entry into art career
Three years later while in VersaillesVersailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, Benois painted a series of watercolors
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
depicting Last Promenades of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
. When exhibited by Pavel Tretyakov
Pavel Tretyakov
Pavel Mikhaylovich Tretyakov was a Russian businessman, patron of art, collector, and philanthropist who gave his name to the Tretyakov Gallery and Tretyakov Drive in Moscow. His brother S.M. Tretyakov was also a famous patron of art and a philanthropist....
in 1897, they brought him to attention of Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...
and the artist Leon Bakst
Léon Bakst
Léon Samoilovitch Bakst was a Russian painter and scene- and costume designer. He was a member of the Sergei Diaghilev circle and the Ballets Russes, for which he designed exotic, richly coloured sets and costumes...
. Together the three men founded the art magazine and movement Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize European art during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1909, many of the miriskusniki also contributed to the Ballets Russes...
(World of Art), which promoted the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
in Russia.
During the first decade of the new century, Benois continued to edit Mir iskusstva, but also pursued his scholarly and artistic interests. He wrote and published several monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
s on 19th-century Russian art and Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
. In 1903, Benois printed his illustrations to Pushkin's poem Bronze Horseman
The Bronze Horseman (poem)
The Bronze Horseman: A Petersburg Tale is a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin in 1833 about the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg. Widely considered to be Pushkin's most successful narrative poem, "The Bronze Horseman" has had a lasting impact on Russian...
, a work since recognized as one of the landmarks in the genre.
In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
in St. Petersburg, the performance space for the Imperial Russian Ballet. After that, he devoted most of his time to stage design and decor.
During these years, his work with the Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
, founded by Diaghilev, was groundbreaking. His sets and costumes for the productions of Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46...
(1909), Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
(1910), and Petrushka (1911), are counted among his greatest triumphs. Although Benois worked primarily with the Ballets Russes, he also collaborated with the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
and other notable theatres of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Surviving the upheaval of the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, Benois achieved recognition for his scholarship; he was selected as curator of the gallery of Old Masters in the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
at Leningrad
Leningrad
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...
, where he served from 1918 to 1926. During this time he secured his brother's heirloom Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
painting of the Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
for the museum. It became known as the Madonna Benois
The Benois Madonna
Madonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas started by Leonardo da Vinci, as he remarked himself, in October 1478. The other one could be Madonna with the Carnation from Munich....
. Benois published his Memoirs in two volumes in 1955.
Family
His nephew Nikolai Benois, son of his brother Albert, married the opera singer Maria KuznetsovaMaria Kuznetsova
Maria Nikolayevna Kuznetsova , was a famous 20th century Russian opera singer and dancer.Prior to the Revolution, Kuznetsova was one of the most celebrated opera singers in Imperial Russia, having worked with Richard Strauss, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Jules Massenet. She was frequently paired...
. Benois was also the uncle of Eugene Lanceray
Eugene Lanceray
Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lansere , also spelled Eugene Lanceray , was a Russian graphic artist, painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and illustrator, associated stylistically with Mir iskusstva ....
and Zinaida Serebriakova
Zinaida Serebriakova
Zinaida Yevgenyevna Serebriakova was among the first female Russian painters of distinction.-Family:Zinaida Serebriakova was born on the estate of Neskuchnoye near Kharkov into one of Russia's most refined and artistic families.She belonged to the artistic Benois family...
, who became recognized Russian artists, and one of the great-uncles of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor Sir Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
.