Pink house. 1930s Oil on canvas, mixed media. 81.5x100 cm. Private collection.
Artist

Yuri Annenkov famous Russian avant-garde artist of the 20th century

Yuri Pavlovich Annenkov. Photo of 1917-1919
Yuri Pavlovich Annenkov. Photo of 1917-1919

Yuri Pavlovich Annenkov (Yury Pavlovich Annenkov; born July 23, 1889 – died July 12, 1974) was a famous Russian avant-garde artist of the 20th century, a graphic artist and painter, a brilliant master of portraiture and landscapes with elements of cubism. The work of Yuri Annenkov reflects the great freedom and ease of the master, filled with improvisation and graceful plastic solutions. His paintings are executed in a peculiar decorative-planar manner of pictorial abstraction, with an amazing combination of color spots and clear outlines. Insightful graphic drawings convey the essence or portrait likeness, even with a minimum of lines and the absence of individual parts.

Yuri Annenkov. Venice. 1930s Canvas, oil. 81,3х129,5 cm.Auction Christie's, 2008
Venice. 1930s Canvas, oil. 81,3х129,5 cm.Auction Christie’s, 2008

Biography of Yuri Annenkov

Yuri Annenkov was born on June 23, 1889 in Petropavlovsk, Tobolsk province, where his father, a member of the revolutionary organization “Narodnaya Volya”, was in exile. At the age of five, he returned to St. Petersburg with his parents, which became his second homeland.

As a child, Yuri Annenkov spent a lot of time at his dacha in the Finnish village of Kuokkala. Here, in the circle of the artistic intelligentsia, a fateful meeting with Ilya Repin and Korney Chukovsky takes place. The first will strengthen the young man’s desire to become an artist, the second, being an influential person, after a few years will provide significant patronage.

Yuri Annenkov. Yuri Yurkun. Bad company. Phelana Publishing House. Petersburg, 1918 illustration.
Yuri Yurkun. Bad company. Phelana Publishing House. Petersburg, 1918 illustration.

After graduating from high school in 1908, Yuri Annenkov is still at a crossroads and, at the insistence of his father, enters the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. But in the same year he began to study in parallel at the private art studio of Jan Frantsevich Tsionglinsky, one of the first Russian impressionists.

Z.P. Annenkova, the artist's sister. 1921 gouache on paper
Z.P. Annenkova, the artist’s sister. 1921 gouache on paper

Under the influence of Tsionglinsky, Yuri is fond of new French painting.

In his early works, blue-violet shadows, the effects of a light-air environment, the desire to capture the momentary moment, the brilliance and beauty of winter nature are traced.

In 1909, Annenkov tried to enter the Academy of Arts, but failed his exams. Tsionglinsky advises to continue studying with the masters of painting in Paris. Following the teacher’s recommendation, in 1911 Yuri Annenkov went to the capital of France, where he attended classes in art schools, took lessons from Felix Vallotton and Maurice Denis.

Yuri Annenkov. Summer cottage of Maria Veyalainen, Kuokkola. 1915 Pencil on paper.
Summer cottage of Maria Veyalainen, Kuokkola. 1915 Pencil on paper.

Two years later, Annenkov returned to St. Petersburg, but already as a completely different artist, far from the outdated trends of the Impressionists. Now in his work there is a synthesis of cubism and realism. The young man experiments a lot, finds interesting stylistic solutions. His paintings, like patterns in a kaleidoscope, are assembled from geometric shapes of different colors and shades.

Yuri Annenkov. Spring (In a popular print style). 1909-1910 Private collection.
Spring (In a popular print style). 1909-1910 Private collection.

Carried away by graphics, Yuri Pavlovich works a lot and hard.

Draws illustrations for periodicals and books. Paints portraits of famous people. The revolution of 1917 is well received. Becomes friends with top-level revolutionaries, becomes the most demanded and expensive artist in Soviet Russia. Works fruitfully with Blok, Belenson, Vengerov. Illustrates the poem “The Twelve” and Chukovsky’s tales. Publishes his own book “Portraits”, which contains images of famous representatives of art and politics.

In 1924, when the political situation in the country of the Soviets began to change, Yuri Annenkov went to the Venice Exhibition, never to return. Settles in Paris, paints landscapes of suburbs, female portraits and interiors. In his works, there are fewer lines and more color, color spots and blurry silhouettes appear.

Yuri Annenkov. Sketch for the decoration of Palace Square in Petrograd. The storming of the Winter Palace. 1920 Mixed media on paper.
Sketch for the decoration of Palace Square in Petrograd. The storming of the Winter Palace. 1920 Mixed media on paper.

Since the 1930s, he has been successfully working in the film industry: he designs stage sets and draws costumes. In 1955, this type of activity brings an Oscar nomination. The last years of his life, the master completely devotes to the decoration of magazines and books, illustrates the works of Solzhenitsyn and Bulgakov. Yuri Annenkov died on July 12, 1974, 11 days before his 85th birthday. According to art critics, he had a happy emigre destiny.

Yuri Annenkov. Set design for the play by G. Kaiser Gas. 1922 Museum of Theater and Musical Art, St. Petersburg.
Set design for the play by G. Kaiser Gas. 1922 Museum of Theater and Musical Art, St. Petersburg.
The most famous paintings by Yuri Annenkov

Yuri Annenkov’s paintings never cease to delight true connoisseurs of art. The most famous works:

  • “Dreams of a Provincial (Borovichi)” (1912) – the picture uses sections that divide the whole into sectors with independent plots.
  • “Portrait of Elena Borisovna Annenkova” (1917) – the canvas depicts the ballerina Elena Galperina, the artist’s wife.
  • “June. Forest “(1918) – a landscape composed of parts in the style of cubism. “Portrait of Miron Abramovich Sherling” (1918) – in this work, academic drawing is skillfully combined with the techniques of avant-garde.
  • “Portrait of A. M. Gorky” (1920) – a combination of watercolor, ink, pencil and ink techniques was used in the creation.
  • “Illustration for the poem” The Twelve “by A. A. Blok (1918) – reflects the artist’s characteristic style using elements of cubo-futurism.
Paintings
Set design for Alexei Tolstoy's Riot of Cars at the BDT. 1924 Cardboard, gouache and ink on the photograph.
Set design for Alexei Tolstoy’s Riot of Cars at the BDT. 1924 Cardboard, gouache and ink on the photograph.
French writers Théophile Gaultier, J.-E. Renan, Paul Verlaine, P. de Saint-Victor and Dumas the son in a tavern during the days of the Paris Commune. 1921 g.
French writers Théophile Gaultier, J.-E. Renan, Paul Verlaine, P. de Saint-Victor and Dumas the son in a tavern during the days of the Paris Commune. 1921 g.
Constructivist composition (Commercial advertising). 1921 g.
Constructivist composition (Commercial advertising). 1921 g.
1918 Portrait of a Woman with a Hat. 1918 g.
1918 Portrait of a Woman with a Hat. 1918 g.
A sketch of the scenery for a scene in hell for the comedy by L.N. Tolstoy The first distiller, or How the devil deserved the edge. 1919.
A sketch of the scenery for a scene in hell for the comedy by L.N. Tolstoy The first distiller, or How the devil deserved the edge. 1919.
Abstract composition. 1921 Collage.
Abstract composition. 1921 Collage.
Arches of the Triumphal Cathedral. 1930s
Arches of the Triumphal Cathedral. 1930s
Breton legend. Saint Christopher (Monk Christopher with Christ near the river). 1916-1917
Breton legend. Saint Christopher (Monk Christopher with Christ near the river). 1916-1917
Cubist composition with male figures. 1910s Pencil on paper. 19.1x28.9 cm. Museum of the History of St. Petersburg
Cubist composition with male figures. 1910s Pencil on paper. 19.1×28.9 cm. Museum of the History of St. Petersburg
Dancer with a cat. 1910s Charcoal on paper.
Dancer with a cat. 1910s Charcoal on paper.
Dreams of a provincial (Borovichi). 1912 Oil on canvas. 135х133 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery.
Dreams of a provincial (Borovichi). 1912 Oil on canvas. 135х133 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery.
Female portrait. 1910s Canvas, oil. 73x58 cm. Ivanovo Regional Art Museum.
Female portrait. 1910s Canvas, oil. 73×58 cm. Ivanovo Regional Art Museum.
Interior. 1934 Oil on canvas. 58x72 cm. Private collection.
Interior. 1934 Oil on canvas. 58×72 cm. Private collection.
Osip Mandelstam, Korney Chukovsky, Benedict Livshits, Yuri Annenkov. Seeing B. Livshits to the front. Petersburg, August 1914.Photo by Karl Bulla
Osip Mandelstam, Korney Chukovsky, Benedict Livshits, Yuri Annenkov. Seeing B. Livshits to the front. Petersburg, August 1914.Photo by Karl Bulla
Palace at sunset. 1930 Oil on canvas. Private collection.
Palace at sunset. 1930 Oil on canvas. Private collection.
Paris, Seine (Villa by the River). 1930s Canvas, oil. 35.5x27.9 cm. Private collection.
Paris, Seine (Villa by the River). 1930s Canvas, oil. 35.5×27.9 cm. Private collection.
Pink house. 1930s Oil on canvas, mixed media. 81.5x100 cm. Private collection.
Pink house. 1930s Oil on canvas, mixed media. 81.5×100 cm. Private collection.
Portrait of Ivan Puni. 1912
Portrait of Ivan Puni. 1912
Portrait of Ivan Puni. Paris, 1911 Oil on canvas.
Portrait of Ivan Puni. Paris, 1911 Oil on canvas.
Portrait of the photographer-artist M.A. Sherling. 1918 Oil on canvas. 71.5х57.5 cm. State Russian Museum
Portrait of the photographer-artist M.A. Sherling. 1918 Oil on canvas. 71.5х57.5 cm. State Russian Museum
Rider. 1897 Drawing by eight-year-old Yura Annenkov. Russian State Archives of Literature and Art.
Rider. 1897 Drawing by eight-year-old Yura Annenkov. Russian State Archives of Literature and Art.