Léopold Frédéric Léopoldowitsch Survage (31 July 1879 – 31 October 1968) was a French painter of Finnish origin. Trained in Moscow, he identified with the Russian avant-garde before moving to Paris, where he shared a studio with Amedeo Modigliani and experimented with abstract movies. He also gained commissions for

Serge Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pa ...

's Ballets Russes.

Nationality

Survage was French, of Russian-

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

descent, born in

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, and ...

, Finland (with selected references indicating a birthplace of Moscow, Russia). Variant names included Léopold Sturzwage, Leopold Sturwage, Leopoldij Sturzwasgh and Leopoldij Lvovich Sturzwage.

Biography

At a young age, Survage was directed to enter the piano factory operated by his Finnish father. He learned to play piano, then completed a commercial diploma in 1897. After a severe illness at the age of 22, Survage rethought his career and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Introduced to the modern movement through the collections of

Sergei Shchukin Sergei Ivanovich Shchukin (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Щу́кин; 10 January 1936) was a Russian businessman who became an art collector, mainly of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. Early life and family Sergei ...

and Ivan Morozov, he cast his lot with the Russian avant-garde and, by 1906, was loosely affiliated with the circle of the magazine ''Zolotoye runo'' (''Golden fleece''—see also Maximilian Voloshin). He met

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (also referred to as Olexandr, Oleksandr, or Aleksandr; uk, Олександр Порфирович Архипенко, Romanized: Olexandr Porfyrovych Arkhypenko; February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian and American ...

, exhibiting with him in the company of David Burlyuk, Vladimir Burlyuk, Mikhail Larionov and

Natalia Goncharova Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova (russian: Ната́лья Серге́евна Гончаро́ва, p=nɐˈtalʲjə sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡənʲtɕɪˈrovə; 3 July 188117 October 1962) was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designe ...

. With Hélène Moniuschko, later his wife, he travelled to Western Europe, visiting

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in July 1908. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Survage worked as a piano tuner and briefly attended the short-lived school run by

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. He exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds group in Moscow in 1910 and first showed his work in France—at the urging of Archipenko—in the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

of 1911.Daniel Robbins, Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, MoMA, 2009
/ref> In 1913, Survage produced abstract compositions using color and movement to evoke a type of musical sensation. Entitled ''Rythmes colorés'', he planned to animate these illustrations by means of film to form "symphonies en couleur". He saw these abstract images as flowing together, but he exhibited the ink wash drawings separately at the

in 1913 and

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (Pa ...

in 1914. Articles on these works were published by

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

(''Paris-J.'', July 1914) and Survage himself (''Soirées Paris'', July–August 1914). In June 1914, in order to develop his idea, Survage unsuccessfully applied for a patent to the Gaumont Film Company. Had he been able to raise the funds, he would have preceded

Viking Eggeling Viking Eggeling (21 October 1880, Lund – 19 May 1925, Berlin) was a Swedish avant-garde artist and filmmaker connected to dadaism, Constructivism, and abstract art and was one of the pioneers in absolute film and visual music. His 1 ...

and Hans Richter as the first to develop abstract films. Beginning in 1917, Survage shared a studio—and a penchant for alcoholic excesses—with Amedeo Modigliani in Paris. Survage later moved to

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

and, over the next eight years, produced highly structured oils and works on paper linked together by a series of

leitmotifs A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglici ...

, repeating groups of symbolic elements—man, sea, building, flower, window, curtain, bird—as if they were protagonists in a series of moving images. The influence may have been Marc Chagall's, an artist well known for his insertions of floating couples, cows, roosters, and sundry

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

iconography. By 1922, Survage had begun to move away from Cubism in favour of the neo-classical form. He was perhaps influenced by commissions for

's Ballets Russes, beginning with sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky's

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

Mavra ''Mavra'' is a one-act comic opera composed by Igor Stravinsky, and one of the earliest works of Stravinsky's neo-classical period. The libretto, by Boris Kochno, is based on Alexander Pushkin's ''The Little House in Kolomna''. Mavra is about ...

at the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

in 1922. Although mainly a painter, he also produced stage, tapestry, and textile designs during this period (notably for the house of Chanel in 1933). Toward the end of the 1930s, as a result of his contact with

André Masson André-Aimé-René Masson (4 January 1896 – 28 October 1987) was a French artist. Biography Masson was born in Balagny-sur-Thérain, Oise, but when he was eight his father's work took the family first briefly to Lille and then to Brussel ...

, Survage became increasingly charmed by symbols and mysticism. The curvilinear forms that had previously dominated his compositions came, once again, under the control of geometric structure. On 12 March 1963 Survage was named Officer of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

.Base Léonore, Archives Nationales, site de Fontainebleau
/ref> He died on 31 October 1968 in Paris.

Selected exhibitions

* 1968: ''Musée des beaux-arts'', Lyon * 1930: ''Museum of Modern Art'', New York * 1929: ''Knoedler Gallery'', New York * 1920: ''Galerie de L'Effort Moderne'', Paris * 1914: ''Salon des Indépendants'', Paris * 1913: ''Salon d'Automne'', Paris

Selected collections

* ''Musée national d'art moderne Georges Pompidou'', Paris * ''Bezalel Museum'', Jerusalem * ''Tretyakov Gallery'', Moscow * ''Musée des beaux-arts'', Lyon * ''Musée du Petit Palais'', Geneva * ''Musée national d'art moderne'', Paris * ''San Francisco Museum of Modern Art'' * ''Museum of Modern Art'', New York * ''National Museum of Arts'', Moscow * ''National Museum'', Athens

Literature

* ''Artistes russes de l'École de Paris'' xhibition catalogue Geneva: Musée d'art moderne, 1989. * ''Léopold Survage'' xhibition catalogue Lyon: Musée des beaux-arts, 1968. * ''Léopold Survage: aquarelles, peintures, dessins'' etrospective exhibition Nice: Direction des musées de Nice, 1975. * ''Les lumières de Léopold Survage: oeuvres, 1910-1932'' xhibition catalogue Aix-en-Provence: Galerie d'art du Conseil général des Bouches-du-Rhône, 2001. * Putnam, Samuel. ''The Glistening Bridge: Léopold Survage and the Spatial Problem in Painting''. New York: Covici-Friede, 1929
(online)
* Seyrès, Hélène (ed.). ''Écrits sur la peinture: Léopold Survage. Paris: L'Archipel, 1992. * Warnod, Jeanine. ''Survage''. Brussels: A. de Rache, 1983.

References

External links

MoMA.org
(Léopold Survage)

(Léopold Survage)
Léopold Survage exhibition catalogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Survage, Leopold 20th-century French painters French male painters Painters from the Russian Empire Finnish painters Cubist artists Abstract animation Russian avant-garde Abstract painters Modern painters Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Finnish people of Danish descent French people of Finnish descent French people of Danish descent 1879 births 1968 deaths French abstract artists Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France