Boris Vladimirovich Ender (; February 4, 1893 – June 12, 1960) was a

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 ...

painter and a pioneer of biomorphic

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

Early life

Born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, Ender came from a family with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

roots. He was brother to also artists

Ksenia Ender Ksenia Vladimirovna Ender (1895, Slutsk - 1955, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad) was a Russian avant-garde painter . Born into a family with Germans, German roots, Ender was sister of also artists Boris Ender, Maria Ender and Yuri Ender. She studied u ...

Maria Ender Maria Vladimirovna Ender (1897, St. Petersburg - 1942, Leningrad) was a Russian artist and researcher. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Ender came from a family with German roots. She was sister to also artists Ksenia Ender, Boris Ender, and Yuri ...

, and Yuri Ender. He showed early artistic talent and studied under Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin and later at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

service, he studied at the Petrograd Free Art Workshops (Svomas).

Later life

Ender's career flourished in the 1920s, joining Mikhail Vasilyevich Matyushin's avant-garde group "''Zorved''" and participating in the Workshop of Spatial

Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

. He developed a unique style of biomorphic abstraction, integrating theories of

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

perception Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...

and

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

. By the late 1920s, Ender's focus shifted towards more traditional

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

. His works were exhibited internationally, including at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. In the 1930s, he moved to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, engaging in

interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

and monumental art, and contributed to the design of the USSR Pavilion at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris. Ender's legacy is preserved in Russian museums, particularly in 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 ...

, the

Russian State Archive of Literature and Art Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (, or RGALI) is one of the largest state archives in Russia. It preserves documents of national literature, music, theatre, cinema, painting and architecture. History As a centralized archive for doc ...

, and the MOMus–Museum of Modern Art.

References

External links

Works by Ender Boris in the Kostakis Collections
MOMus–Museum of Modern Art (

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ender, Boris Painters from Saint Petersburg Russian avant-garde Russian modern painters Soviet painters 1893 births 1960 deaths