Alexandre Benois

Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (Russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois) (3 May [O.S. 21 April] 1870, Saint Petersburg – 9 February 1960, Paris), an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva (World of Art), an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev, Benois's influence on the modern ballet and stage design is considered seminal.

Early life and education

Alexandre was born into the artistic and intellectual Benois family, prominent members of the 19th and early 20th-century Russian intelligentsia. His father was Nicholas Benois, a noted Russian architect. His brothers included Albert Benois and brother Leon; the latter also became a notable architect. Not planning a career in the arts, Alexandre graduated from the Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg Imperial University, in 1894.

Entry into art career

Three years later while in Versailles, Benois painted a series of watercolors depicting Last Promenades of Louis XIV. When exhibited by Pavel Tretyakov in 1897, they brought him to attention of Sergei Diaghilev and the artist Leon Bakst. Together the three men founded the art magazine and movement Mir iskusstva (World of Art), which promoted the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau in Russia.

During the first decade of the new century, Benois continued to edit Mir iskusstva, but also pursued his scholarly and artistic interests. He wrote and published several monographs on 19th-century Russian art and Tsarskoye Selo. In 1903, Benois printed his illustrations to Pushkin's poem Bronze Horseman, a work since recognized as one of the landmarks in the genre.

In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the performance space for the Imperial Russian Ballet. He moved to Paris in 1905, and after that, devoted most of his time to stage design and decor.

During these years, his work with the Ballets Russes, founded by Diaghilev, was groundbreaking. His sets and costumes for the productions of Les Sylphides (1909), Giselle (1910), and Petrushka (1911), are counted among his greatest triumphs. Although Benois worked primarily with the Ballets Russes, he also collaborated with the Moscow Art Theatre and other notable theatres of Europe.

Surviving the upheaval of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Benois achieved recognition for his scholarship; he was selected as curator of the gallery of Old Masters in the Hermitage Museum at Leningrad, where he served from 1918 to 1926. During this time he secured his brother's heirloom Leonardo da Vinci painting of the Madonna for the museum. It became known as the Madonna Benois. Benois published his Memoirs in two volumes in 1955.

In 1927 he left Russia and settled in Paris. He worked primarily as a set designer after settling in France.

Family

Benois's son, Nicola Benois (also known as Nikolai Benois), was born in 1901, and went on to become a celebrated opera designer, creating costumes and sets for opera companies all over the world.

Nicola studied art and design under his father, before attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg. At eighteen, Nicola produced his first professional designs for the ballet Seasons (1919). He emigrated to France in 1925, and shortly thereafter, was invited by Alexander Sanin to design Khovanshchina at La Scala. His designs were well-received and he was offered a position as a designer at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

In 1935, Nicola accepted the post of scenery director at La Scala, where he employed his father as a designer.

Benois's nephew, Nikolai Albertovich Benois, married the opera singer Maria Kuznetsova.

Benois was also the uncle of Eugene Lanceray and Zinaida Serebriakova, who became recognized Russian artists, and one of the great-uncles of the British actor Sir Peter Ustinov.

Works

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  Promenade of Empress Elizabeth through the Noble Streets of Saint Petersburg, 1903

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  Peter the Great Meditating the Idea of Building Saint Petersburg at the Shore of the Baltic Sea

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  Military Parade of Emperor Paul in front of Mikhaylovsky Castle, 1907

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  Set for Stravinsky's Petrushka, 1911

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  At the German Quarter, 1911