Dmitry Kardovsky

Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer, illustrator, teacher. Born into the nobility at the estate of Osurovo near Pereslavl-Zalessky (1866). Graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University (1891). Studied under Ilya Repin and Pavel Chistyakov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1892–96, 1901–02) and at Anton Ažbè’s school in Munich (1896–1900). Passed through periods of interest in Impressionism (1890s), Art Nouveau (1900s) and Neoclassicism (1910s–30s), but favoured faithful representation over formal experimentation in his own teaching system. Married Olga Della-Vos (1900). Illustrated the works of Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Griboyedov, Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Krylov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy and Daniel Defoe (from 1902). Founding member of the New Society of Artists (1903) and the Union of Soviet Artists (1930). Collaborated with the Bugbear and Hellish Post satirical magazines (1905–06). Professor (1907), full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1911), academician (1915). Taught at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1903–19), Pereslavl-Zalessky Society of Science and Education (1919–20), VKhUTEMAS/VKhUTEIN (1920–30), in a studio with Xavery Chemko on Tverskaya Street in Moscow (1922–30) and Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1933–34). Designed sets and costumes for the Maly Theatre in Moscow (1920s). Died in Pereslavl-Zalessky and buried at the museum complex on the territory of the Goritsy Monastery of the Dormition (1943). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1900). Contributed to the exhibitions of the World of Art (1900), New Society of Artists (1904–17), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1909–11, 1918), Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1923), Fire-Colour (1925), Four Arts (1928), Union of Soviet Artists (1930–32), international exhibition in Munich (1909) and the exhibitions of Russian art in Florence (1922), New York (1924, 1929), Los Angeles (1925), Paris (1925), London (1934), Philadelphia (1934) and Berlin (1955, 1964). One-man shows in Moscow (1938, 1953) and Leningrad (1953, 1967). Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1930).