Marevna

Painter, graphic artist, applied artist. Born Marie Vorobieff-Stebelska, daughter of a Polish nobleman (Bronislaw Stebelskij) and actress (Maria Worobjewa). Studied at the Tiflis School of Fine Arts (1907–08) and the Stroganov School of Art and Industry (1910–11). Visited Rome and Capri (1911), where she met Maxim Gorky, who gave her the nickname of Marevna after a Russian fairy sea princess. Lived in Paris (from 1912), where she studied at the Académie Russe, Académie de Zuloaga and Académie Colarossi. Painted in a Cubist style and frequented the Café de la Rotonde in Montparnasse. Met Mexican painter Diego Rivera (1915) and gave birth to his daughter Marika (1919). Worked in a Pointillist style (1920s). Designed handmade textiles (1920s–30s), creating works for French couturier Paul Poiret. Lived in Nice, Juan-les-Pins and Cannes (1936–48). Moved to England (1948), living in Athelhampton and London. Painted a series of portraits of the artists of Montparnasse and works dedicated to Sergei Diaghilev and victims of the Holocaust (1960s–70s). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1912). Contributed to Salon des Tuileries (1912), Salon des Indépendants (1913), exhibitions of Russian art in London (1921) and Paris (1925), Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris (1925), Neo-Impressionism in New York (1968), Women Artists of the École de Paris (1971) and Mad Years of Montparnasse (1979). One-woman shows in Paris (1929, 1936, 1953, 1985), London (1952, 1977, 1980, 1992) and Geneva (1971).