Constantine Astori (Russian: Константин Николай Астафьев; April 11, (March 29 O.S.) 1889 — June 11, 1975) is a renowned artist of mostly landscapes in

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those us ...

watercolors Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

and charcoal.

Early life

He was born on March 29, 1889 as Constantin Nicholas Astafieff in

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. He had his art education in

. He married Olga Trofimoff, on May 17, 1916 in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, Russia. When the

Soviet revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

happened in 1917 the region had a lot of conflicts and did not support the revolution. This was not a good time for the newly married couple so they decided to escape to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

(presently

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

). Once they moved to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

they changed their name to Astori to start a new life with a new name. Constantin Astori spent his years in

painting street scenes. He was particularly interested in mosques with minarets and old

streets with people. He experimented pastels and charcoal. The art world in

was limited and not intriguing. The couple first thought about moving to Paris then decided to move to New York. On October 1, 1923 he immigrated to the United States of America, while his wife Olga moved to Paris. She joined her husband three years later, in 1926. Astori settled in New York City and tried to get into the art world. He worked as an art restorer for various museums. He became naturalized US citizen in 1936.

Career

From the 1930s to the 1940s he restored art works for the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

and

Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum housed within the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 museums that fall under the wing of the Smithsonian ...

. In 1940 he was commissioned to paint a mural for American Natural Museum in New York. He completed the mural, which depicted

pterosaurs Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

, the same year. This mural is still over the stairs in the museum. Later in 1970 this mural was used in the album cover of '' Dinosaur Swamps'' by the band called the Flock (band). He participated to various art shows but never realized his dream of becoming a famous artist. He experimented with black and white drawings of New York street scenes. Later in his life he was more interested in pastels depicting serene country scenes. His wife Olga died on January 23, 1975, he died the same year on June 11, 1975. The couple had no children. His artwork can be found in art dealers internationally. He is interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Lakewood, Ocean County, New Jersey, USA

References

External links

siarchives.si.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astori, Constantin 1889 births 1975 deaths Soviet emigrants to Turkey Turkish emigrants to the United States Painters from the Russian Empire 20th-century American painters American male painters People with acquired American citizenship 20th-century American male artists