Boris Grigoriev

Painter, graphic artist, writer, teacher. Born in the house of Maria Gippius on Mashov Lane (now Chaplygin Street) in Moscow as the illegitimate son of an American governess called Clare Lindenberg and a married bookkeeper from Tsarskoe Selo called Dmitry Grigoriev (1886). Adopted by his real father (1890) and grew up in Rybinsk (1890s). Moved with his two brothers to Moscow (1899), where he trained at the Moscow Practical Academy of Commercial Sciences (1899–1902). Studied under Dmitry Scherbinsky and Abram Arkhipov at the Stroganov School of Art and Industry in Moscow (1903–07), under Alexander Kiselyov and Dmitry Kardovsky at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg (1907–12) and at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière in Paris (1912–13). Member of Nikolai Kulbin’s Triangle group (from 1909) and the World of Art (1914–18). Collaborated with such magazines as Satyricon, New Satyricon and Apollo (from 1911). Visited Norway, Sweden and Austria (1909–11). Lived and worked in Paris (1911, 1913), where he sketched numerous scenes from everyday life, including In a Restaurant (1913). Painted portraits of famous Russian artists, writers and directors (1914–18), decorated the Halt of Comedians cabaret bar in Petrograd (1916). Worked on the Raseya cycle, depicting the poverty and strength of the Russian peasantry and village life (1916–19). Published the Intimité cycle of drawings (1918). Taught at the State Free Art Studios (1918–19). Escaped with his family to Finland by sailing across the Gulf of Finland (1919). Settled in Berlin, where he worked for Russian book and magazine publishers (1919–21). Lived in Paris (from 1921), where he painted portraits of the actors of the Moscow Arts Theatre and the Visages du Monde (Faces of the World) cycle for the League of Nations (1920–31). Frequently visited the United States (1920s–30s), drawing for fashion magazines and advertising companies. Settled at the Villa Borisella in Cagnes-sur-Mer (1927). Travelled across South America (1929, 1936). Taught at the Chilean Academy of Arts in Santiago (1927–28) and Tatyana Sukhotina-Tolstaya’s Académie Russe in Paris (1930). Illustrated works of Russian literature (early 1930s) and opened a school of art in Cagnes-sur-Mer (1931). Faculty dean of the Applied Arts Academy in New York (1935–38). Returned to France (1938) and died of cancer in Cagnes-sur-Mer (1939). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1908). Contributed to the exhibitions of Triangle-Impressionists (1909), Fellowship of Independents (1912, 1913), Modern Art (1913), World of Art (1913, 1915–18), Russian Landscapes (1918–19), First State Free Exhibition of Works of Art (1919), Berlin Sezession (1919–20), Exposition des artistes russes à Paris en 1921 organisée par les membres et exposants de la Société Mir isskousstva (Monde artiste) at the Salon d’Automne and Galerie de la Boétie in Paris (1921), international exhibitions in Leipzig (1914), Venice (1920, 1926), Paris (1922, 1923, 1930, 1931), New York (1923), Pittsburgh (1925, 1927), Antwerp (1931) and Chicago (1932, 1934, 1938), exhibitions of Russian art in London (1921), Paris (1921, 1925, 1927, 1932), Chicago (1923), New York (1924), Amsterdam (1924), Dresden (1926), Brussels (1928), Birmingham (1928), Washington (1928, 1932), Copenhagen (1929), Belgrade (1930), Wilmington (1932), Philadelphia (1932) and Prague (1932, 1935) and one-man shows in Berlin (1920), Paris (1921, 1925, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1937), New York (1923, 1924, 1925, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938), Worcester (1923, 1924), Milan (1926), Prague (1926, 1932), Chicago and Philadelphia (1927), Valparaiso and Santiago (1928), Buenos Aires and Montevideo (1929), Cagnes-sur-Mer (1940, 1978), Miami (1960), Pskov (1989), Moscow (1990, 2011) and St Petersburg (2011).