Mikhail Larionov

Self-Portrait, 1910

Acacias in Spring. 1904

Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (Russian: Михаи́л Фёдорович Ларио́нов, Tiraspol June 3, 1881 – Fontenay-aux-Roses May 10, 1964) was an avant-garde Russian painter.

Life and work

Mikhail Larionov was born at Tiraspol, near Odessa in the Russian Empire. In 1898 he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Isaac Levitan and Valentin Serov. He was suspended three times for his radical outlook. In 1900 he met Natalya Sergeevna 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.

Red Rayonism, 1913

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 1913 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. He spent the rest of his life in France and obtained the French citizenship. He died in Paris suburbs in Fontenay-aux-Roses.

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.

The highest price paid for a Larionov painting at auction is 2,200,000 British pounds.[1]

He is in the highest category "1A - a world famous artist" in "United Artists Rating".

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).

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Persondata
Name	Larionov,Mikhail
Alternative names
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Date of birth	June 3, 1881
Place of birth
Date of death	May 10, 1964
Place of death