Sergey Yurievich Sudeikin, also known as Serge Soudeikine (19 March 1882 in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

– 12 August 1946 in

Nyack, New York Nyack () is a Village (New York), village primarily located in the Town (New York), town of Orangetown, New York, Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. Incorporated in 1872, a small western section of the village lies in Clarkst ...

), was a

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 ...

n artist and set-designer associated with the

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

Biography

Having been banned from the

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (), also known by the acronym MUZHVZ, was one of the largest educational institutions in Russia. The school was formed by the 1865 merger of a private art college, established in Moscow ...

for his "obscene drawings", Sudeikin joined the

Mir Iskusstva ''Mir iskusstva'' ( rus, «Мир искусства», p=ˈmʲir ɪˈskustvə, ''World of Art'') was both a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it fostered, playing a significant role in shaping the Russian avant-garde. The movement was d ...

movement. His close friends included the poet

Mikhail Kuzmin Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin () ( – March 1, 1936) was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, as well as a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Biography Born into a noble family in Yaroslavl, Kuzmin grew up in St. Petersb ...

and the impresario

Serge Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

, at whose invitation he came to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1906 for the Salon d'Automne Exhibition, where his work was first shown abroad. From 1907 to 1918 he was married to actress Olga Glebova (1885–1945), one of the famed beauties of

St Petersburg 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 ...

and the closest friend of

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,. ...

. Glebova-Sudeikina is the principal character and addressee of Akhmatova's longest work, ''The Poem Without Hero'' (1940–65). Sudeikin designed the sets and costumes for Diaghilev's production of ''La tragédie de Salomé'' by

Florent Schmitt Florent Schmitt (; 28 September 187017 August 1958) was a French composer. He was part of the group known as Les Apaches. His most famous pieces are ''La tragédie de Salome'' and ''Psaume XLVII'' ( Psalm 47). He has been described as "one of t ...

in 1913, and assisted in the execution of

Nicholas Roerich Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (), better known as Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophist, philosopher, and public figure. In his youth he was influenced by Russ ...

's designs for

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

The Rite of Spring ''The Rite of Spring'' () is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky ...

'' the same year. By the time of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Sudeikin was among the foremost theatrical designers in Russia. In 1913 he had eloped to Paris with the dancer

Vera de Bosset Vera de Bosset Stravinsky (January 7, 1889 – September 17, 1982) was an American dancer and artist. She is better known as the second wife of composer Igor Stravinsky, whom she married in 1940 after having been in an adulterous affair with ...

, whom he subsequently married, and who in the 1920s left him to become the mistress and ultimately second wife of Stravinsky. Sudeikin 1

In 1926 he prepared artwork for the 1926 Broadway production of

Nikolai Evreinov Nikolai Nikolayevich Evreinov (; February 13, 1879 – September 7, 1953) was a Russians, Russian theatre director, director, dramatist and theatre practitioner associated with Russian Symbolism. Life The son of a French woman and a Russian eng ...

's ''The Chief Thing''. Soudeikine later designed the settings for the original

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of ...

production of ''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' that first opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

at the

Alvin Theatre The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp an ...

in New York City on October 10, 1935.

Selected paintings

File:1916. Кабаре Привал комедиантов. Картина Сергея Судейкина.jpg, Cabaret Comedians' Rest File:1916 Sudeikin, Tafel Kabarett (1).JPG, Tafel Kabarett File:1916 Sudeikin, Tafel Kabarett (2).JPG, Tafel Kabarett File:1922 program cover for US tour of La Chauve Souris.jpg, 1922 program cover for US tour File:Childhood of Nikita MET DP804814.jpg, Childhood of Nikita File:COSTUME DESIGN FOR MUZHIKI 055l19115.jpg, Russian Muzhiki File:King and Coat of Arms MET DP804809.jpg, King and Coat of Arms File:Serge Sudeikin, Projet de décors et de costumes.jpg, Projet de décors File:Sergei Soudeikine - Bat Theatre in Moscow, 1922.jpg, Bat Theatre in Moscow File:Маскарад (Судейкин).jpg, Masquerade File:С. Судейкин. Пантомима.jpg, Pantomime File:Судейкин Масленичный-Петрушка.jpg, Petrushka File:Portrait of Jeanne Soudeikine by Serge Sudeikin.jpg, Portrait of Jeanne File:Vera Stravinsky by Serge Sudeikine.jpg, Vera Stravinsky

External links

*
Russian biographyGuide to Serge Sudeikin Drawings
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Sergei Soudeikine set designs for cinema, 1938-1939
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sudeikin, Serge 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters Russian modern artists 1882 births 1946 deaths American people of Russian descent White Russian emigrants to the United States Bisexual painters Russian LGBTQ painters 20th-century Russian male artists Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni 20th-century Russian LGBTQ people Mir iskusstva artists