Alexandra Exter

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Alexandra Alexandrovna Exter , born Alexandra Grigorovich , russ .: Александра Александровна Экстер (born January 6, jul. / 18th January  1882 greg. In Bialystok , Russian Empire ; † 17th March 1949 in Fontenay-aux-Roses in Paris ) was a Russian painter who also taught at art schools. The versatile artist , who has lived in Paris since 1924, designed puppets, costumes and sets for theater, ballet and film and illustrated a large number of books. Her art is influenced by Suprematism , Cubism and Futurism .

life and work

Three women (1909). National Museum of Art of Ukraine Kiev
"Costume design for Romeo and Juliette" (1921). MT Abraham Foundation .
Cubist costume designs for Salome. Kamerny Theater Moscow (1922)

Alexandra Exter studied at the Kiev Art School in 1907 . In the same year she exhibited with the symbolist artist group Blue Rose in Moscow and participated in other exhibitions in Russia. This was followed by regular study trips to Paris from 1908 connected with visits to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Rome. She had contacts with Picasso , Braque , Apollinaire in Paris and with Marc Chagall in the La Ruche artist colony . In Italy she met the futurists Ardengo Soffici and Marinetti . From 1909 she ran a studio in Paris.

In 1912 she moved to St. Petersburg, then Petrograd , and took part in important exhibitions of the Russian avant-garde such as the Jack of Diamonds (1910-17). Until 1914 she stayed optionally in Kiev, Moscow, Paris and Italy. In early 1914 she took part in a futurist exhibition in Rome, 1915-16 in the Tramway V exhibition and in 1921 in the 5x5 = 25 exhibition in Moscow.

1916–21 she began working for the theater with the ensemble of Alexander Jakowlewitsch Tairow . In 1918 she had her own studio in Kiev, from which many artists emerged, and dealt with textile designs . The First Russian Art Exhibition in Berlin in 1922 showed her paintings City , Venice , Objectless, as well as eleven costume sketches for the Chamber Theater in Moscow, six decoration sketches and a theater decoration model for Romeo and Juliet. From 1921 to 1922 she taught at the WChUTEMAS art school in Moscow.

In 1924 Exter emigrated to France. She lived first in Paris, where she developed a number of stage designs for the ballet and from 1926 to 1930 at the Academie d'Art Contemporain of Fernand Léger taught. From 1928 until her death she lived in Fontenay-aux-Roses. In addition to her work in theater, ballet and film, she had solo exhibitions in Berlin (1927), Paris (1929) and Prague (1937).

Formally, her work differs from that of other female artists of the Russian avant-garde. Exters use of color is more reminiscent of Sonia Delaunay . Influences of Suprematism are evident in her, but she oriented herself westward and was shaped less by Russian primitivism than by European Art Deco and Symbolism. Exters talent as a script painter is evident in the books she illustrates .

Works

  • Composition (Genoa) , 1912, private collection (sold at Sotheby’s in 1989 for US $ 1,373,790)
  • Kubo-futuristic composition (port) , 1912–14, oil on canvas, 129 × 200 cm, Museum Ludwig , Cologne
  • Composition (Genoa) , 1912–14, oil on canvas, 115.5 × 86.5 cm, Museum Ludwig , Cologne
  • Color Dynamics , 1916–17, oil on canvas, 89.5 × 54 cm, Museum Ludwig , Cologne
  • Constructivist still life , 1917, Russian Museum , St. Peterburg
  • Construction , 1922–23, Museum of Modern Art , New York
  • Still life with bottle and glass , 1923, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Lugano

literature

  • Amazons of the avant-garde - Alexandra Exter, Natalja Gontscharowa, Lyubow Popowa, Olga Rosanowa, Varwara Stepanowa and Nadeschda Udalzowa , exhibition catalog, Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin 1999.
  • The great utopia: The Russian avant-garde 1915-1932 , exhibition catalog, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main 1992.
  • Book for the exhibition Russian Avantgarde 1910-1930 Collection Ludwig, Cologne , in the Kunsthalle Cologne, April 16 - May 11, 1986 (edited and with an introduction by Evelyn Weiss ).
  • Gerda Breuer , Julia Meer (Ed.): Women in Graphic Design. Jovis / Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86859-153-8 , pp. 440/441.
  • Ingrid Pfeiffer, Max Hollein (eds.): Sturm-Frauen: Artists of the Avant-Garde in Berlin 1910-1932 . Wienand, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-86832-277-4 (catalog of the exhibition of the same name, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt , October 30, 2015 to February 7, 2016).

Web links

Commons : Alexandra Exter  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerda Breuer, Julia Meer (ed.): Women in Graphic Design , Berlin 2012, pp. 440/441
  2. ↑ Early Twentieth-Century Russian Drama (Eng.)
  3. ↑ Gerda Breuer, Julia Meer (ed.): Women in Graphic Design , Berlin 2012, p. 441
  4. ↑ Sally Liddell: Sotherby's Art at Auction 1988-89. Sotheby's Publications, London 1989; 122. ISBN 0-85667-365-X .
  5. ↑ http://www.hausderkunst.de/forschen/dokumentation/dokumentation-ausstellungen/detail/wege-zur-abstraktion/ Exhibition August 12 - October 9, 1988 in the Haus der Kunst in Munich: Paths to abstraction. 80 masterpieces from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection , accessed on April 28, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Exter, Alexandra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Exter, Alexandra Alexandrovna (full name); Grigorowitsch, Alexandra (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian painter and art teacher
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Belostok , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1949
Place of death Fontenay-aux-Roses near Paris