Alexander Alexandrovich Osmerkin (; – 25 June

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

) was a Russian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

stage designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

, and

art teacher Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

. He was a member of the Knave of Diamonds avant-garde group, AKhRR, and ''Society of Moscow Artists'' (OMKh) groups. Since 1932 he was a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists.

Biography

Childhood

Alexander Osmerkin was born in Elisavetgrad (now

Kropyvnytskyi Kropyvnytskyi (, ) is a city in central Ukraine, situated on the Inhul, Inhul River. It serves as the administrative center of Kirovohrad Oblast. Population: Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name several times. The settlement ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) into the family of a post-office clerk. Young Osmerkin was raised by his Ukrainian nanny, who eventually stayed with him through the rest of his life as his personal assistant. He took his first art lessons at the drawing department at Elisavetgrad Regional Professional School under a Peredvizhnik painter Feodosy Kozachinskiy.

Artistic development

In 1911–1913 Alexander Osmerkin moved to Kyiv to continue his education in art. He attended classes at

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Professional School of Art. In Kyiv he met Alexandra Exter and other avant-garde artists, who cast influenced on his vision and style. Although he cited

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

as his main influence, Osmerkin absorbed from many sources and styles, before he created his own. He turned to

Fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

after seeing works of

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

and

André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. In 2025, all of Derain’s work entered the public domain in the United States. Life and career Early ...

and other Fauvists. He visited St. Petersburg several times to study art at museums, and also made numerous landscapes in his own manner blending classical St. Petersburg cityscapes with his Fauvist touch. Eventually he settled in Moscow and joined Ilya Mashkov artistic studio. He followed his teacher and became the youngest artist in "The Jack of Diamond" group.

After Revolution

Since 1918 Osmerkin worked as a Professor of Art, first in VKhUTEMAS in Moscow. At first he taught alongside

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

, until the latter emigrated. Then Osmerkin opened his own workshop and also taught at the Surikov Institute of Fine Arts in Moscow. There his circle included such names as poet

Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (, ; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school. Osip Mandelstam was arrested during the repressions of the 1930s and sent into internal exile wi ...

, writers Osip Brik and

Viktor Shklovsky Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky ( rus, Ви́ктор Бори́сович Шкло́вский, p=ˈʂklofskʲɪj; – 6 December 1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, writer, and pamphleteer. He is one of the major figures asso ...

, as well as his fellow artists from the "Bubnovy Valet" group.

Leningrad

During the 1920s and 1930s, Osmerkin lived and worked in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. There, upon invitation form Isaac Brodsky, he taught at his master's workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Arts on

Vasilevsky Island Vasilyevsky Island (, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south and northeast, and by Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finl ...

. In 1927 his canvas "Red Guards at the Winter Palace" (), also known as "Takeover of the Winter Palace" () was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Russian Museum in Leningrad. In 1927 Osmerkin took part in the major art show () at the State Russian Museum, where his works were exhibited alongside the works of

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

, David Burlyuk, Natalia Goncharova,

Mikhail Larionov Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov (; – May 10, 1964) was a Russian avant-garde painter who worked with radical exhibitors and pioneered the first approach to abstract Russian art. He was founding member of two important artistic groups Knave ...

, Robert Falk, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Pyotr Konchalovsky and other masters of

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

art. At that time Osmerkin moved forward with his style, because the peak of avant-garde movements was over right after the revolution, and some trends were losing their novelty, so he embraced a classic and more traditional system of figurative and plastic imagery. He was also able to show his works at the Leningrad Academy of Arts, as well as at Leningrad Union of Artists, he also showed his works at the Leningrad Writers Club, with the help of his friends. In 1937, he made stage design for Pushkins play " Mozart and Salieri" at Bolshoi DramaTheatre. Osmerkin was a head of personal workshop at the Leningrad Academy of Art (since 1932 Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, since 1944 Ilia Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture) and was a one from founders of the Leningrad School of Painting (). He had a number of talented students in Leningrad, such as Elena Skuin, Victor Teterin, Evgenia Baykova, Lev Orekhov,

Ivan Godlevsky Ivan Ivanovich Godlevsky (; March 9, 1908 in Kholm Governorate, Russian Empire – August 20, 1998 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet Russian painter, a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists (before 1992 — the Leningrad Uni ...

Gleb Savinov Gleb Alexandrovich Savinov (; September 27, 1915 – November 5, 2000) was a Soviet Union, Soviet, Russians, Russian painter and art teacher, Honored Artist of the RSFSR, Honored Artist of Russian Federation, who lived and worked in Leningr ...

Olga Bogaevskaya Olga Borisovna Bogaevskaya (, 25 October 1915, Petrograd, Russian Empire – 30 November 2000, Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad. She ...

, Vasily Savitsky, Evsey Moiseenko and other artists.

Under Stalin

Osmerkin, as a highly original artist who contributed to development of the

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

, risked to suffer from the Soviet officialdom under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. He saw the destruction of private art collections, even some museums and libraries. Osmerkin survived the first wave of persecution of Russian intellectuals. He was emotionally devastated by the arrest and execution of his friend

. During the 1940s and 1950s Osmerkin enjoyed a continuous friendship with poet

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

. In 1946, the Soviet Communist Party started attacks on some intellectuals and creative artists. Along with other victims of such attacks, such as

and Mikhail Zoshchenko, Osmerkin was accused of formalism, and spreading western influence to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

art. He was banned from teaching and exhibiting his works, so he was left without any income. During his last years, Osmerkin was completely cut off from the Soviet public life and became an underground artist, who expressed himself in painting. He died on 25 June 1953 while working on a landscape painting near Moscow. Alexander Osmerkin was interred in Vagankovo Cemetery in Moscow.

Heritage

Alexander Osmerkin created over 700 works of art in a variety of genres. His paintings and drawings may be found at the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

and Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, as well as at State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and many other museums internationally, also in private collections.

Family

Osmerkin's son Gennady Osmerkin (1946-2019) was also an artist, as well as an industrial designer. He was a professor at FIT in New York City.

Pupils

* Sergei Ivanovich Osipov * Elena Petrovna Skuin * Gleb Alexandrovich Savinov * Olga Borisovna Bogaevskaya * Victor Kuzmich Teterin * Lev Nikolaevich Orekhov * Evgenia Vasilievna Baykova * Valery Ivanovich Levanidov

Works

As all of the Jacks of Diamonds he consider himself a Cézanne-ist. He also was influenced by

fauvism Fauvism ( ) is a style of painting and an art movement that emerged in France at the beginning of the 20th century. It was the style of (, ''the wild beasts''), a group of modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong col ...

and

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

. Later, not unlike another Jack of Diamonds, Robert Falk he was inspired with the experiments with the colors. Later in his life he became a neo-impressionist. Osmerkin's successes were mostly connected with chamber landscapes, still lifes and portraits. He also provided some Socialist Realism paintings like portraits of

Stakhanovite The Stakhanovite movement was a Mass movement (politics), mass cultural movement for Workforce, workers established by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party in the 1930s Soviet Union. Its promoters encouraged Rationalization (e ...

s or ''Taking the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

'' Image:Osmerkin man cylinder.JPG, Man in a Top Hat, 1915 File:Stilleben-mit-Fächer 1917 Aleksandr-Osmërkin Осмёркин-Александр inBishkek-MuseumKunstGaparAitiev 20240411.jpg, Still life with fan, 1917

References

Osmerkin MuseumBiography

E.K. Osmerkina-Galperina ''Osmerkin'' (Таким был Осмеркин)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osmerkin, Alexander 1892 births 1953 deaths Soviet painters Russian painters Russian artists Soviet avant-garde Russian avant-garde 20th-century Russian painters Russian realist painters Russian landscape painters Russian genre painters 20th-century Russian illustrators Russian male painters Russian portrait painters Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery Academic staff of Vkhutemas Artists from Kropyvnytskyi Members of the Leningrad Union of Artists Russian educational theorists Soviet educational theorists Russian art educators Artists from Moscow Painters from the Russian Empire Artists from the Russian Empire Soviet Futurist painters Post-impressionist painters Modern painters