In a day, he could work on a painting, then prepare a sketch of a theatrical scenery or costume, and also write an article about art - this is the whole of Alexander Benois.
The great artist was born in 1880 in St. Petersburg. His father was an architect, and many of the representatives of the Silver Age were associated with their family or kinship or friendship.
Therefore, Alexander's childhood was full of aesthetic impressions, but the theater especially attracted him with its ability to combine several types of arts into one.
And the architecture of St. Petersburg itself could not fail to impress: the royal residence, Peterhof, the architecture of the suburbs …
Biography in art
The first educational institution of Benois was the private gymnasium of Karl May, he also studied in the evening class of the Academy of Arts. During this time he met Sergei Diaghilev and other future members of the World of Art. He also took painting lessons from his brother Albert.
Alexander was convinced that it was possible to improve in art only through self-education. And all his life he studied the history of art with enthusiasm, becoming a brilliant art critic. The most famous works of art by Benoit are associated with the Hermitage and Russian artists.
Benois formed his own style in painting thanks to Petersburg culture and Western European art, which he studied on foreign trips. Therefore, on his canvases you can most often see views of St. Petersburg and France, most often Versailles.
He is also known as an illustrator with his "ABC in Pictures", as well as "The Bronze Horseman" and "The Queen of Spades" by Pushkin - now this is the history of book graphics.
Since childhood, he adored the theater, it was his love, therefore, having already become an artist, he was happy to create scenery for performances, he himself developed sketches of costumes for performances. He also helped Diaghilev: he designed performances during the Russian seasons in Paris.
Career after the revolution
Alexandre Benois accepted the revolution, and hoped that with the renewal of society, there would come a renewal in art. He firmly believed that all works ever created by human genius should belong to the entire people. Therefore, he became a member of the Commission for the Protection of Monuments of Art. He also headed a gallery in the Hermitage, did a lot of research, wrote articles on the preservation of art monuments.
However, in 1926 he emigrated to France and settled in Paris. Here he is engaged in sketches of theatrical scenery for the Russian seasons in Paris, as well as in Milan. During these years he made many illustrations of books by French and Russian authors, and also worked on watercolors for the novel "The Sinner" by A. de Rainier, for the story "The Captain's Daughter" by Alexander Pushkin. But these books were not destined to see the light of day - they were not published.
At the end of his life, Alexander Benois wrote his memoirs, memoirs, collected letters. He died in Paris in February 1960, and is buried in the Batignolles cemetery.
