Russian Avant-Garde Artists
Boris Smirnov-Rusetskiy
Buddha of the Evening Light. 1924
Paper, gouache. 48.5 x 64cm
Boris Smirnov-Rusetskiy (1905-1993)
He began to draw from his earliest childhood. In 1917 his family moved to Moscow. From 1920, attended the Art Studio of the Higher Shooting School under the guidance of A.Mankov. In 1921, he tried to pass his examination in VKHUTEIN (Higher Art Technical Institute), but failed. He entered the Evening Department of the Moscow Institute of Engineering and Economy (1921-1926). Simultaneously attended I.Rerberg’s studio. During 1922-1924 he created series of landscapes “Transparency” influenced by A.Block’s poems and the music of Chopin, Shuman and List. His exhibition activity began from 1923 with the “Exhibition of the Five” (D.Sobolev, A.Mikuli, L.Lozovskiy, P.Fateev). In 1926 he met Rerikh, who advised him to study painting, and in the same year Smirnov-Rusetskiy successfully passed his examinations in VKHUTEIN. There his teachers were Favorskiy (wood-engraving),N. Kupriyanov (lithography) and I.Nivinskiy (etching). In 1927, he participated in the International Exhibition in New-York,organized by N.Rerikh and presented there two of his paintings. P.Fateev and A.Sardan also took part at the exhibition. This year a group “Amaravella” uniting the first cosmist-artists in the country, was finally formed. (P.Fateev,B. Smirnov-Rusetskiy, Vera Pshesetskaya (Runa), A.Sardan, S.Shigolev, V.Chernovolenko).
In 1930, B. Smirnov-Rusetskiy abandoned VKHUTEIN and became a post-graduate student at the Institute of Metals. This fact determined his further career and he made a number of discoveries and researches in the sphere of physical metallurgy. But he continued to paint. He travelled a good deal in the North, Caucasus, Crimea, Kazakhstan, Karelia, Baltic countries, Ukraine, Altay and the middle regions of Russia. He participated in several exhibitions. In June, 1941, Smirnov-Rusetskiy was arrested and spent 10 years in correctional labour camps. In 1956, he was rehabilitated.
Mother of Pearl. 1923
Tempera on wood. 32.8 x 49.8cm
