Mikhail Larionov

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Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (June 3, 1881-May 10, 1964) was an avant-garde Russian painter.

[edit] Biography

Born at Tiraspol, near Odessa. In 1898 he entered the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow under Isaac Levitan and Valentin Serov. He was suspended three times for his radical outlook.

In 1900 he met Natalia Goncharova and formed a life-long relationship with her.

From 1902 his style was Impressionism. After a visit to Paris in 1906 he moved into Post-Impressionism and then a Neo-primitive style which derived partly from Russian sign painting. In 1908 he staged the Golden Fleece exhibition in Moscow, which included paintings by international avant-garde artists such as Matisse, Derain, Braque, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Other group shows promoted by him included Tatlin, Chagall and Malevich.

Larionov was a founding member of two important Russian artistic groups Jack of Diamonds (1909-1911) and the more radical Donkey's Tail (1912-1913). He gave names to both groups. His first solo show was for one day in Moscow in 1911.

In 1912 he created Rayonism, which was the first creation of near-abstract art in Russia. In 1915 he left Russia and worked with the ballet owner Sergei Diaghilev in Paris on the productions of the Ballets Russes.

In 2001, the Central Bank of Transnistria minted a silver coin honoring this native of today's Transnistria, as part of a series of memorable coins called The Outstanding People of Pridnestrovie.

[edit] External links

• Online gallery of Larionov paintings
• Marevna, "Smokers" showing Ballet owner Serge de Diaghilev (centre) with Jean Cocteau (to his left), Natalya Goncharova (left) and her husband Mikhail Larionov (right), (scroll down to 3rd painting).