Ivan Puni

Ivan Puni, 1914, Portrait of Artist's Wife (Портрет жены художника), oil on canvas, 89 x 62.5 cm, The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Ivan Puni or Puny (Jean Pougny, Russian: Иван Пуни; 1894 or 1892[1][2][3] – 1956) was a Russian avant-garde artist (Suprematist, Cubo-Futurist).

Biography

Ivan Puni was born in Kuokkala (then Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, now Repino in Russia) to a family of Italian origins.[4] He is the grandson of an eminent Italian composer of ballet music, Cesare Pugni.

In 1909-1910 he studied in various workshops, including the Académie Julian in Paris. In 1915 Puni together with the group of avant-garde artists (Aleksandra Ekster, Liubov Popova, Ivan Kliun, Ksenia Boguslavskaya, Olga Rozanova, Nadezhda Udaltsova, Nina Genke and others) joined Supremus, a group led by the founder of Suprematism Kazimir Malevich.

In 1915-1916 Puni, together with other suprematist artists, worked at Verbovka Village Folk Centre.

In 1919 he taught at the Vitebsk Art School under Marc Chagall.

He was married to Ksenia Boguslavskaya.

In 1920 Ivan Puni and Ksenia Boguslavskaya emigrated first to Germany, and in 1923 to France. Since then Ivan Puni adopted the name Jean Pougny. He became a French citizen in 1946.

Ivan Puni (Jean Pougny) died in Paris in 1956.

Notes

  1. ↑ ru: Русская живопись // Пуни Иван Альбертович (1892—1956)
  2. ↑ ru: Пуни Иван Альбертович (1892—1956)
  3. ↑ ru: ПУНИ Иван (Жан) Альбертович / Pougny Jean
  4. ↑ Kuokkala at the Wayback Machine (archived October 26, 2009)