by Peter. Leek
SERGEÏ VASSILYEVICH CHEKHONIN
Sergeï Vassilyevich Chekhonin was born in 1878 at Lykoshino Station in Novgorod Province (now Tver Region). From 1893 to 1896 he served at the Nikolayevskaya Railroad Station, often visiting Saint Petersburg and attending the Stieglitz School of Technical Drawing. From 1896 to 1897 he studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts under Jan Tsionglinsky and trained in ceramic art under V. Schreiber. Between 1897 and 1900 he studied at Princess Tenisheva’s Private School and under the guidance of Ilya Repin. From 1902 to 1907 he worked under Piotr Vaulin at Savva Mamontov’s Artistic Pottery Works in Moscow, from 1907 to 1915 in the “Goldwein and Vaulin workshop” near Saint Petersburg and in the workshop on Princess Tenisheva’s estate at Talashkino near Smolensk. In 1906 he traveled to Paris to organize an exhibition of Russian folk art and in 1913 to Berlin to prepare an exhibition of Russian handicrafts. In 1913 he took part in the organization of the second All-Russian Handicraft Exhibition in Saint Petersburg and after it was invited to work as an artistic adviser to the handicraft department of the Ministry of Agriculture. Between 1913 and 1917 he was in charge of the enamel painting workshops at Rostov in Yaroslavl Province and at Torzhok in Tver Province, the workshop of artistic furniture at Yefremov, Tula Province, and the gold embroidery and stitching workshop at Torzhok. In 1917 he entered a commission for handicrafts and in 1918 an art board attached to the People’s Commissariat for Education. From 1918 to 1923 and 1925 to 1927 he was the chief artist at the State Porcelain Factory in Petrograd/Leningrad; from 1923 to 1925 he headed the artistic section of the Novgorod Porcelain Works (formerly the Kuznetsov Factory). He took part in the World of Art exhibitions and was a member from 1913. His first drawings appeared in the political satirical journals The Viewer (1905-06) and Maski (Masks, 1906) of which he was an editor, he also produced two sheets for The Calendar of the Russian Revolution (1906). In the 1910s and 1920s he contributed to the journals Apollon, Satiricon, New Satiricon, Flame, October, Red Panorama, The Worker and the Theatre, etc. He designed dozens of books including K. Balmont’s Cali of Antiquity, Sasha Chorny’s Satires (1911-12), G. Lukomsky’s Monuments of Old Architecture in Russia (1913), S. Makovsky and N. Radlov’s Modern Russian Graphics (1914-17), A. Pushkin’s Mozart and Salieri (1914), A. Lunacharsky’s Faust and the City (1919), J. Read’s Ten Days That Shook the World (1923), The October Revolution in Art (1926). He also designed collections of works by Fiodor Dostoyevsky, Lope de Vega, Victor Hugo, Mikhaïl Lermontov, Nikolaï Nekrasov and children’s books (K. Chukovsky’s Cockroach, 1923; Ye. Polonskaya’s Guests, 1924; S. Marshak’s Book about Books, 1924, etc.). More than other World of Art members he devoted himself to the creation of fonts: he created The Fairy Tale ABC (1912, each letter representing some character), The Theatrical Font (1920s) and others; he designed printers’ typefaces and in 1912 won first prize in the competition of new fonts for I. Leman’s publishing house. He worked in the other spheres of graphic art too: he designed posters, slogans, colophons, as well as the first examples of Soviet emblems, seals, banknotes, trade-union emblems, postage stamps, etc. His easel paintings and graphic works include landscapes (Landscape, 1912; Ostankino, 1927; View of the Park of the Russian Museum, 1928); still lifes, mainly flowers (Roses, 1913; Still Life, 1916; Poppies in a Glass, 1925); numerous portraits (S. Andronnikova, 1916; Vladimir Kachalov, 1918; Maxim Gorky, 1921; Larisa Reisner, 1922; a series of Russian composers; several portraits of Lenin). He revived the art of the portrait miniature (depictions of Lydia Vychegzhanina, 1915; Zinaida Lukomskaya, 1916; Georgy Narbut, 1917 and others). He took part in the designing of the interiors and façade of the Hotel Metropole in Moscow (1902-07), decorated interiors in some private mansions, in the Yusupov Palace from 1912 to 1915; he produced designs of majolica panels for the church of the Life-Guards of the Moscow Regiment in Saint Petersburg (1906), the School House (1907), and the church built to mark 300 years of the House of Romanov (1914) in Moscow, and other buildings. He took part in the decoration of Petrograd for the first anniversary of the October Revolution (1918) and the first rest home for workers on Kamenny Island in Petrograd, and in planning the mass spectacle The Siege of Russia in honor of its inauguration (1920). He decorated articles with flowers, fruit, and figures; produced the first examples of propaganda porcelain (plates and dishes “Blessed be free labor!”, The Red Baltic Fleet, “The reign of workers and peasants will never end”, The Hammer and Sickle, The RSFSR, etc.); invented new shapes for vessels (the Narkompros [People’s Committee for Education], Plenipotentiary, Sheaves, Jubilee, and other services, etc.), and statuettes (Maternity, Street Vendor, Negro Woman). His first venture in theatrical art was connected with the satirical theatre called The Crooked Mirror. He designed costumes and sets for Rostand’s La Princesse lointaine for K. Nezlobin’s theatre in Moscow (1916), sets for Andreï Bely’s Petersburg at the Arts Theatre in Moscow and produced the sets for N. Vekstern’s play In 1825 (1925). In 1928 he went to Paris, accompanying an exhibition of modern Russian porcelain, and did not return. While abroad, he painted landscapes, still lifes, portrait miniatures, produced a number of decorative panels, engaged in porcelain decoration, jewelry, advertising and restoration; invented a new process of many-coloured printing from the same cylinder. He worked particularly in the theatre, for V. Nemchinova’s Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, N. Balieff’s cabaret-theatre La Chauve-Souris, and other companies. He died on 23 February 1936 in the town of Lörrach near Basel, Switzerland.
Bibliography
AUTY, ROBERT AND OBOLENSKY, DIMITRI,
An Introduction to Russian Art and Architecture, Cambridge University Press, 1980
BIRD, ALAN,
A History of Russian Painting, Phaidon, 1987
BOWLT, JOHN,
From the Classical to the Romantic: Russian Art of the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (essay originally published in The Art of Russia 1800-1850, University of Minnesota, 1978), reprinted in Art and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Russia, edited by Theofanis George Stavrou, Indiana University Press, 1983
FEODOROV-DAVYDOV, ALEXEÏ,
Isaac Levitan, Parkstone/Aurora, 1995
GRAY CAMILLA,
The Great Experiment. Russian Art 1863-1922, Thames & Hudson, 1962 (revised and enlarged by Marian Burleigh-Motley, Thames & Hudson, 1986)
GUERMAN, MIKHAÏL,
Mikhaïl Vrubel, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
GUERMAN, MIKHAÏL,
Russian Impressionists and Postimpressionists, Parkstone Press, 1998
GUERIVIAN, MIKHAÏL,
Vassily Kandinsky, Parkstone Press, 1998
GUERMAN, MIKHAÏL AND FORESTIER, SYLVIE,
Marc Chagall, Parkstone/Aurora, 1995
HAMILTON, GEORGE HEARD,
The Art and Architecture of Russia, in the Pelican History of Art series, Penguin Books, 1954
HARE, RICHARD,
The Art and Artists of Russia, Methuen, 1965
KEMENOV, VLADIMIR,
Vassily Surikov, Parkstone Press, 1997
KOVTUN, YEVGENY,
Avant-Garde Art in Russia 1920-1930, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
KOVTUN, YEVGENY,
Mikhaïl Larionov, Parkstone Press, 1998
LEONTYEVA, GALINA,
Karl Briullov, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
MILNER, JOHN,
A Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Artists 1420-1970, Antique Collectors’ Club, 1993
NESTEROVA, YELENA,
The Itinerants, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
NOVOUSPENSKY, NIKOLAÏ,
Ivan Aivazovsky, Parkstone/Aurora, 1995
PEROV, S.S.,
Russian Art of the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, essay in The Art of Russia 1800-1850, University of Minnesota, 1978-9
PETROV, VSEVOLOD,
Russian Art Nouveau, Parkstone Press, 1997
RAZDOLSKAYA, VERA,
Martiros Saryan, Parkstone Press, 1998
SARABIANOV, D.V.,
Russian Art: From Neoclassicism to the Avant-Garde, Thames & Hudson, 1990
SARABIANOV, D.V.,
Valentin Serov, Parkstone/Aurora 1996
SHUVALOVA, IRINA,
Ivan Shishkin, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
SMIRNOV, G.,
Venetsianov and His School, Aurora, 1973
STAVROU, THEOFANIS GEORGE,
(editor) Art and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Russia, Indiana University Press, 1983
STERNIN, GREGORY,
Ilya Repin, Parkstone/Aurora, 1996
TALBOT RICE, TAMARA,
A Concise History of Russian Art, Thames & Hudson, 1963
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE:
The Art of Russia 1800-1850, University of Minnesota, 1978
List of Works Classed by Artist
A
Ivan Aivazovsky 1817-1900
Alexeï Antropov 1716-1795
Abraham Arkhipov 1862-1930
Ivan Argounov 1727-1802
B
Vassily Baksheyev 1862-1958
Leon Bakst 1866-1924
Alexander Benois 1870-1960
Victor Borisov-Musatov 1870-1905
Vladimir Borovikovsky 1757-1825
Karl Briullov 1799-1852
C
Marc Chagall 1889-1985
Sergeï Chekhonin 1878-1936
D
Alexander Deineka 1899-1969
Mstislav Dobuzhinsky 1875-1957
Nikolaï Dubovskoi 1859-1918
F
Robert Falk 1886-1958
Pavel Fedotov 1815-1852
Konstantin Flavitsky 1830-1866
G
Nikolaï Gay 1831-1894
Alexander Golovin 1863-1930
Natalia Goncharova 1881-1962
Igor Grabar 1871-1960
I
Sergeï Ivanov 1864-1910
Alexander Ivanov 1806-1858
K
Vassily Kandinsky 1866-1944
Nikolaï Kasatkin 1859-1930
Orest Kiprensky 1782-1836
Pyotr Konchalovsky 1876-1956
Konstantin Korovin 1861-1939
Ivan Kramskoï 1837-1887
Nikolaï Krymov 1884-1958
Arkhip Kuindzhi 1842-1910
Alexander Kuprin 1880-1960
Boris Kustodiev 1878-1927
Pavel Kuznetsov 1878-1968
L
Yevgeny Lanceray 1875-1946
Mikhaïl Larionov 1881-1964
Isaac Levitan 1860-1900
Dmitri Levitsky 1735-1822
M
Vladimir Makovsky 1846-1920
Kasimir Malevich 1878-1935
Philip Maliavin 1869-1940
Sergeï Maliutin 1859-1937
Andreï Matveyev 1701-1739
Vassily Maximov 1844-1911
Grigory Miasoyedov 1834-1911
Amadeo Modigliani 1884-1920
N
Georgy Narbut 1886-1920
Jean-Marc Nattier 1685-1766
Mikhaïl Nesterov 1862-1942
Nikolaï Nevrev 1830-1904
Pyotr Neradovsky 1875-1962
Ivan Nikitin 1688-1742
P
Vassily Perov 1834-1882
Kuzma PetrovVodkin 1878-1939
Arkady Plastov 1893-1972
Vassily Polenov 1844-1927
Vassily Pukirev 1832-1890
Illarion Pryanishnikov 1840-1894
R
Ilya Repin 1844-1930
Nicolaï Roerich 1874-1947
Fyodor Rokotov 1735-1808
Andreï Roublev 1370-1430
S
Nikolaï Sapunov 1880-1912
Martiros Saryan 1880-1972
Konstantin Savitsky 1844-1905
Alexeï Sarasov 1830-1897
Zinaida Serebriakova 1884-1967
Valentin Serov 1865-1911
Mikhaïl Shibanov 1780-1821
Ivan Shishkin 1832-1898
Leondi Solomatkin 1837-1883
Konstantin Somov 1869-1939
Sergeï Sudeikin 1882-1946
Vassily Surikov 1848-1916
T
Vladimir Tatlin 1885-1953
Vassily Tropinin 1776-1857
V
Victor Vasnetov 1848-1926
Fyodor Vassilyev 1850-1873
Alexeï Venetsianov 1780-1847
Mikhaïl Vrubel 1856-1910
Y
Boris Yakovlev 1890-1972
Konstantin Yuon 1875-1958
Index
A
A Bolshevik
A Ploughman, Leo Tolstoy Ploughing
Above Eternal Peace
After the Rain
All in the Past
The Appearance of Christ to the People
The Appearance of Christ to the People
Apples and Leaves
Archidiacre
Arrival of a Sorcerer at a Peasant Wedding
The Autumn (from the Cycle of Seasons)
Autumn Bouquet: Portrait of Vera Repina, the Artist’s Daughter
Aviator
B
Ballet Dressing Room: Snow Flakes (The Nutcracker)
Barge Haulers on the Volga
Bathing of a Red Horse
Bethlehem
The Blue God
Boats from the Time of Peter the Great
Bouquet of Cornflowers
The Boyarina Morozova
Breads
Building New Factories
C
Calvary (Unfinished)
Chorus Girl
Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Christ in the Desert
Cock and Hen
Composition VII
Constantinople Street. Midday
Countess Mordinova’s Forest, Peterhof
The Courtyard of my House
D
Death of the Commissar
Dogrose
Draft of decoration of the Liteïny prospect
Draft of the Soviet poster screen n°4
Drowned Girl
E
Easter Procession in the Country
Elizabeth Petrovna’s Ascent to the Throne (Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna and Soldiers of the Preobrazensky Regiment in the Guardroom of the Winter Palace during the Early Hours of 25 November 1741)
Empress Elizabeth Petrovna at Tsurksae Selo
Esquisse de peinture murale. Vitebsk
Evening Bells
F
February Azure
Female Textile Workers
Fish at Sunset
Vase, Flowers and Fruits
Formal Session of the State Council Held to Mark its Centenary on 7 May 1901
Frontispiece for Pushkin’s poem Bronze Horseman
G
Girl with Peaches (Portrait of Vera Mamontova)
The Golden Autumn
Group Portrait of the World of Art Artists
Guest from Overseas
H
Haymaking 1, 2
Hunters at Rest
I
In the Doctor’s Waiting Room
The inconsolable Grief
Italian Family
Italian Midday
Ivan the Terrible and his Son on 16 November 1581
Ivan the Tsarevich Riding the Grey Wolf
K / L
Kiss and Congratulation for Easter
L’Echo du temps passé (Echo of the Past)
Lacemaker
Lady in Blue (Portrait of Elizaveta Martynova)
Lake at Gennesaret
Lake Sevan
Large Oriental Still Life
Large Still Life with Artificial Flowers, a Red Tray and a Wooden Plate
The Last Day of Pompei
The Last Supper
Laundry Workers
M
The Major’s Marriage Proposal
Man and Woman at a Table, two seated Women, Man putting a Glove (Study for the painting Parisian café)
Man with an Injured Arm
; March
March Sun
Menshikov at Beriozov
The Miracle of St George and the Dragon
The Mockers
Morning at a Tavern
Morning in a Pine Forest
The Morning of the Execution of the Streltsy