Marie Vassilieff
Encyclopedia
Mariya Ivanovna Vassiliéva (Russian
: Мария Ивановна Васильева), (February 12, 1884 – May 14, 1957), better known as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian
painter
.
She moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three and became an integral part of the artistic community on its left bank called, Montparnasse
.
She was born in Smolensk
, Russia to a prosperous family who encouraged her to study medicine. Her natural instincts, however, were for the arts and, in 1903 she switched to the study of art at the Academy in St. Petersburg. 1905 she visited the artistic capital of the world, Paris, France.
Two years later, she moved to Paris, taking a job as a correspondent for several Russian newspapers while studying painting under Henri Matisse
and attending classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
.
In 1908 she founded the Académie Russe (Russian Academy), which was renamed the following year as, the Académie Vassilieff.
In 1912 she opened her own atelier
in Montparnasse
. It became the nexus for those at the cutting-edge of art at the time, when Erik Satie
, Henri Matisse
, Nina Hamnett
, Amedeo Modigliani
, Ossip Zadkine
, Juan Gris
, and Chaim Soutine
started dropping by in the evenings for conversation and occasionally to draw.
Before long the walls of Marie Vassilieff's atelier held a collection of paintings by Marc Chagall
and Modigliani
, drawings by Picasso
and Fernand Léger
, and in a corner, sat a sculpture by Zadkine
.
By 1913, her studio was so widely known that Fernand Léger gave two lectures there on the topic of Modern art
.
What Marie Vassilieff is most remembered for, however, is her canteen that operated before and during World War I. She volunteered as a nurse in the French Red Cross and saw how badly the financial situation had become for many of the artists of Paris who were already struggling. Because many of her artist acquaintances frequently had little or nothing to eat, in 1915, she opened the canteen that provided a full meal and a glass of wine for only a few centime
s.
While her canteen provided a valuable service, during the war
it became a popular gathering place for the artistic community. During the war a government curfew was put into place. The restaurants and cafés of Paris all were obliged to close early, however, Marie Vassilieff's canteen was licensed as a private club
and, therefore, not subject to the curfew
. As a result, soon her place became crowded and at night, filled with music and dancing.
In January 1917, Georges Braque
, who had been wounded fighting in World War I, was released from military service. Marie Vassilieff and Max Jacob
decided to organize a dinner for Braque and his wife, Marcelle. Among the guests was Alfredo Pina with his new companion, Beatrice Hastings
, who had recently ended her two-year relationship with Amedeo Modigliani
. Knowing Modigliani's penchant for causing a disturbance when he drank, and that he drank often, Marie Vassilieff did not invite Modigliani to Braque's party. The art community was small, however, and word of the get-together soon reached Modigliani. An uninvited, and very drunk, Modigliani showed up, looking for a fight. A scuffle ensued, a pistol appeared, and Marie Vassilieff, all five feet of her, pushed Modigliani downstairs while Pablo Picasso
and Manuel Ortiz de Zarate
locked the door. Marie Vassilieff made what is now a very famous drawing
depicting the events of the evening.
Marie Vassilieff's own artwork is primarily in the Cubist style, her most interesting paintings are portraits of dancers as well as those of her friends, Jean Cocteau
, Picasso, and Matisse. Known, too, for her decorative furniture pieces and her doll-portraits, Vassilieff's works remain very popular. Although her works never gained the lofty stature or astounding prices of some of her renowned contemporaries, today they may be found in museums and private collections worldwide.
As both an artist and friend, Marie Vassilieff was an integral part of the great creative community of Montparnasse, where today one may still see her ornamental panels, created in 1927 for the pillars in the dining room of the La Coupole
.
After several exhibitions in London in 1928 and 1930, and in Italy in 1929, she opened the Vassilieff Museum. Friends with Alfred Jarry
, she organized a homage to him.
Marie Vassilieff died at a home for elderly artists in Nogent-sur-Marne
, Île-de-France
, France.
In 1998, the Musée du Montparnasse
was opened in Marie Vassilieff's old studio.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Мария Ивановна Васильева), (February 12, 1884 – May 14, 1957), better known as Marie Vassilieff, was a 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....
painter
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...
.
She moved to Paris at the age of twenty-three and became an integral part of the artistic community on its left bank called, Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
.
She was born in Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
, Russia to a prosperous family who encouraged her to study medicine. Her natural instincts, however, were for the arts and, in 1903 she switched to the study of art at the Academy in St. Petersburg. 1905 she visited the artistic capital of the world, Paris, France.
Two years later, she moved to Paris, taking a job as a correspondent for several Russian newspapers while studying painting under 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 attending classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
.
In 1908 she founded the Académie Russe (Russian Academy), which was renamed the following year as, the Académie Vassilieff.
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
in Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
. It became the nexus for those at the cutting-edge of art at the time, when Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
, 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...
, Nina Hamnett
Nina Hamnett
Nina Hamnett was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors' chanteys, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia.- Early life :...
, Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
, Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine was a Belarusian-born artist who lived in France. He is primarily known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs.-Early years and career:...
, Juan Gris
Juan Gris
José Victoriano González-Pérez , better known as Juan Gris, was a Spanish painter and sculptor who lived and worked in France most of his life...
, and Chaim Soutine
Chaim Soutine
Chaïm Soutine was a Jewish painter from Belarus. Soutine made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living in Paris....
started dropping by in the evenings for conversation and occasionally to draw.
Before long the walls of Marie Vassilieff's atelier held a collection of paintings by 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...
and Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
, drawings by Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, and in a corner, sat a sculpture by Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine
Ossip Zadkine was a Belarusian-born artist who lived in France. He is primarily known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs.-Early years and career:...
.
By 1913, her studio was so widely known that Fernand Léger gave two lectures there on the topic of Modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
.
What Marie Vassilieff is most remembered for, however, is her canteen that operated before and during World War I. She volunteered as a nurse in the French Red Cross and saw how badly the financial situation had become for many of the artists of Paris who were already struggling. Because many of her artist acquaintances frequently had little or nothing to eat, in 1915, she opened the canteen that provided a full meal and a glass of wine for only a few centime
Centime
Centime is French for "cent", and is used in English as the name of the fraction currency in several Francophone countries ....
s.
While her canteen provided a valuable service, during the war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it became a popular gathering place for the artistic community. During the war a government curfew was put into place. The restaurants and cafés of Paris all were obliged to close early, however, Marie Vassilieff's canteen was licensed as a private club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
and, therefore, not subject to the curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
. As a result, soon her place became crowded and at night, filled with music and dancing.
In January 1917, Georges Braque
Georges Braque
Georges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
, who had been wounded fighting in World War I, was released from military service. Marie Vassilieff and Max Jacob
Max Jacob
Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...
decided to organize a dinner for Braque and his wife, Marcelle. Among the guests was Alfredo Pina with his new companion, Beatrice Hastings
Beatrice Hastings
Beatrice Hastings was the pen name of Emily Alice Haigh an English writer, poet and literary critic. Much of her work was published in The New Age under a variety of pseudonyms, and she lived with the editor, A. R. Orage, for a time before the outbreak of the First World War...
, who had recently ended her two-year relationship with Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
. Knowing Modigliani's penchant for causing a disturbance when he drank, and that he drank often, Marie Vassilieff did not invite Modigliani to Braque's party. The art community was small, however, and word of the get-together soon reached Modigliani. An uninvited, and very drunk, Modigliani showed up, looking for a fight. A scuffle ensued, a pistol appeared, and Marie Vassilieff, all five feet of her, pushed Modigliani downstairs while Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
and Manuel Ortiz de Zarate
Manuel Ortiz de Zárate
Manuel Ortiz de Zárate Pinto was a Chilean painter.Born Manuel Revuelta Ortiz de Zárate Pinto in Como, Italy, he was the son of Chilean composer Eleodoro Ortiz de Zárate and of María Cristina Pinto Errázuriz...
locked the door. Marie Vassilieff made what is now a very famous drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
depicting the events of the evening.
Marie Vassilieff's own artwork is primarily in the Cubist style, her most interesting paintings are portraits of dancers as well as those of her friends, Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
, Picasso, and Matisse. Known, too, for her decorative furniture pieces and her doll-portraits, Vassilieff's works remain very popular. Although her works never gained the lofty stature or astounding prices of some of her renowned contemporaries, today they may be found in museums and private collections worldwide.
As both an artist and friend, Marie Vassilieff was an integral part of the great creative community of Montparnasse, where today one may still see her ornamental panels, created in 1927 for the pillars in the dining room of the La Coupole
La Coupole
La Coupole , codenamed Bauvorhaben 21 , Schotterwerk Nordwest or Wizernes, is a Second World War bunker complex built by the forces of Nazi Germany between 1943 and 1944 to serve as a launch base for V-2 rockets against London and southern England...
.
After several exhibitions in London in 1928 and 1930, and in Italy in 1929, she opened the Vassilieff Museum. Friends with Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry
Alfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
, she organized a homage to him.
Marie Vassilieff died at a home for elderly artists in Nogent-sur-Marne
Nogent-sur-Marne
Nogent-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Nogent-sur-Marne is a sous-préfecture of the Val-de-Marne département, being the seat of the Arrondissement of Nogent-sur-Marne.-History:...
, Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
, France.
In 1998, the Musée du Montparnasse
Musée du Montparnasse
The Musée du Montparnasse is a museum at 21 Avenue du Maine, in the 15th arrondissement, Montparnasse Quarter of Paris, France.The museum opened its doors on May 28, 1998...
was opened in Marie Vassilieff's old studio.