Painter, graphic artist, stage designer and writer, Alexandre was the son of Nikolay Benois. He was educated in St. Petersburg, attending the May Gymnasium (1885–90) and the Faculty of Law at the university (1890–94). Although he attended the Academy of Arts for four months (1887–8) and classes at various studios in France, including that of Whistler in 1896, Alexandre Benois regarded himself as a self-taught artist. Brought up in the milieu of an artistic and influential family, he organized art circles at both the gymnasium and the university. A man of great knowledge and sophisticated taste, he stimulated everyone who worked with him and played a crucial role in Russian culture during the first quarter of the 20th century. It was he, for instance, who involved Serge Diaghilev in ballet and helped with his early artistic projects. He started his professional career as curator (1895–9) of Princess Maria Tenisheva’s collection of modern paintings, and he became a founder and leading member of the group World of Art (Mir Iskusstva; 1898) and of the exhibition society that succeeded it (1910). He also became artistic director of both the Ballets Russes (1909–11) and the Moscow Art Theatre (c. 1909–14).
As an artist and critic, Benois favoured figurative painting and disliked abstraction and other modernist experiments of the 20th century. His work was influenced by German and French painting and, like that of various World of Art artists, was retrospective and eclectic as well as symbolist in atmosphere. He was captivated by the court of Louis XIV at Versailles, and the greater part of his artistic oeuvre was given to depicting Louis’s court, as well as St Petersburg under the reign of Peter the Great and afterwards, which had emulated 17th-century France. Benois’s dreams about Versailles were first realized in his sketches for the ballet Le Pavillon d’Armide (1907), and the historical accuracy for which he was noted may be seen in his design for the costume of Armide’s slave (London, Theatre Museum). Treating costumes and décor as an integral part of the whole production, and often writing the scenario as well, he achieved his greatest artistic success in the theatre. His designs for Petrushka (1911) and his other works for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (1909–24) are the most celebrated. He was also artistically successful as a book illustrator. His illustrations for Aleksandr Pushkin’s Bronze Horseman of 1907 were highly praised.
After the Revolution of 1917, Benois remained in what became the Soviet Union, working as director of the picture gallery at the Hermitage, Petrograd (now St Petersburg), from 1918 until 1926, when he finally left to settle in Paris and continue his career in the West. He maintained his strong interest in 18th-century St Petersburg and continued to produce many such works as Cascades d’Or (Oxford, Ashmolean). This watercolour and others in the same Fountains of Peterhof series—painted in Paris in 1936—have the stylization and perspective of 19th-century stage sets and show how his painting was influenced by his interest in the theatre. As a writer Benois was critical, descriptive and somewhat conservative. Writing from an encyclopedic knowledge of art and aesthetics, he published several books, both in Russia and the West, and a large number of reviews and articles. Benois’s theatrical output was immense and, for over half a century (1900–57), he designed almost continuously for productions in the world’s leading theatres. His memoirs provide a valuable record of the art and artists of his time.
Collections
Benois is represented in the following collections: Tate Gallery, UK; Hermitage, St. Petersburg; Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery, UK; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia, amongst others.
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