The son of a family of Moscovite merchants, Serge Ivanoff was artistic from a young age. On his parents' move to St. Petersburg he took he took classes there at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences (today Russian Academy of Sciences), in particular the lectures and laboratory work of Professor Schmidt on human anatomy. Here he made his first contacts with Europe, through trips to Switzerland and Norway.Then came the war, during which he was mobilized as a gunner.
In 1917, while the Russian Revolution raged, he entered what was then the Higher Arts College of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts (which was to become, by 1992, the I.E. Repin St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture,[2]
subordinated within the Russian Academy of Arts).[3][4]
Aged 24, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts and perfected his art under the benevolent direction of Master Braz, curator of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
He then went to Professor Kardovsky's class and finished his studies at the Academy with competitive work in 1922. This was the first promotion of this order during the Bolshevik revolution. All contact with Europe had been cut off and study trips abroad were no longer available for students of the Academy.
In 1920, his wife, with their two children, fled the Bolsheviks to Paris. Two years later, having finished his studies and forever marked by the horrors of the revolution, Serge joined them in Paris.
Maison de pêcheurs sur la Volga, Serge Ivanoff, 1922
But before leaving, he travelled discreetly through the Russian countryside to set down on paper his visions of deep Russia which will mark him forever. Continuing on his way, he was welcomed by Ilya Repin in his dacha at Kuokkala, before crossing Finland by foot.
Having left his beloved Russia, Serge Ivanoff took with him the essence of the most accomplished teaching in his profession as a painter.
Finally it is to Paris, via England, that his steps lead him.
He had a small testimonial book published there: "La famine en Russie Bolchévique", in which he illustrated a poignant text with his rigorous drawings.
Finally exiled, he created book illustrations, posters and advertisements to earn a living, while in the mean time continuing his artistic research.
Traveling through the main cities of Europe, he established a solid reputation as a portrait painter. From 1930 to 1950, he collaborated with the magazine L'Illustration[5] and, as such, he once again traveled the world: Italy, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Brazil.
Cathédrale d'Amiens par Serge Ivanoff, 1940.
He produced reportage drawings, such as these series of paintings representing the Hôtel Drouot[6] or these watercolors presenting the Cathedrals of France, of which the Musée Carnavalet acquired several pieces in 1988. He designs stage costumes and theater sets. His Haute couture representations (Schiaparelli, Molyneux, Rochas, Patou) made the cover of fashion magazines. Van Cleef & Arpels commissioned a portrait from him for the New York Exhibition in 1939,[7] depicting a model wearing jewelry from the "Passe-Partout" collection.[8]
He meets many of the most outstanding personalities of the moment. These illustrator works, freeing him from the constraints of the art market, allow him to pursue more personal research. Thus he explores the great classicism he was fond of then by composing mythological scenes, genre scenes and still lifes
In 1937, L'Illustration asked Serge Ivanoff to do a painting report illustrating the interiors of the Vatican. This trip was an important turning point for him for several reasons.
First of all, the familiarization with the great masters of the past of the Italian school, then the beginning of a career as a portraitist of prelates of the Catholic Church.
In Rome the artist made the decisive encounter with Vyacheslav Ivanov, a major figure of the Silver Age. The philosopher made him aware of his intimate creative power, which would later allow him to deepen his personal path.
After the Second World War, he developed his international career in Brazil and then in Argentina. The South American continent inspires his style with greater freedom of touch and boldness in color.
At the same time, he earned a great reputation as a portraitist , which followed him beyond borders.
In 1950, Ivanoff moved to the United States; one year later he became an honorary citizen[9].[dubious – discuss] For over a decade he traveled across the American continent, executing many portraits.
Exposition du tableau "Menaces" à Ambassade de Russie à Paris en 2006.
At the end of the 1960s,he returned permanently to France and set up his studio at 80 Rue Taitbout, in Paris. He was a member of the Salon des Indépendants.
In 1965, France's first Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux, awarded him a gold medal for his painting "Menaces" (Threats)[10].[citation needed] This painting is now in the collection of the Russian Embassy in Paris (donated by the Ivanoff family on the death of the artist).
His grandson Alexandre Barbera-Ivanoff, born in 1973, is also a renowned painter.
He is the only expert empowered by the Ivanoff family to authenticate Serge Ivanoff's works.
Talented portraitist, he painted or drew the portrait of many well-known figures[edit]
Osip Braz, Paris, 1933. Braz, for his part, painted the portrait of Serge Ivanoff.
Zinaida Serebriakova, Paris, 1940 (Collection K. Serebriakova). Serebriakova in return painted Sergei Ivanoff's portrait. His son, Alexandre Serebriakoff, painted a watercolor artwork representing the studio of Serge Ivanoff (Paris, 1944).
Arthur HoneggerSerge Ivanoff peint le portrait d'Arthur Honegger. Paris, 1944., Paris, 1944. The portrait was exhibited in 1954 in San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor.
Serge Ivanoff painted many portraits of ecclesiastics[edit]
Portrait of Mgr Van Roey by Serge Ivanoff, 1944
Pope Pius XI, at Castel Gandolfo, 1937.[38][39] The portrait will appear on the front cover of L'Illustration in a special album on the death of the pope, in February 1939.[40] The pope, though sick and tired, posed for the preparatory portrait.[41]
Jaime de Barros Câmara sitting for his portrait by Serge Ivanoff, 1947
In parallel with his portrait commissions and his work as an illustrator and decorator, Serge Ivanoff never ceases to pursue his research into several dimensions of painting.
During his travels in South America, he explored mythological themes, but using a much brighter color palette.[45][46]
The result was large-scale compositions, scenes of nude women in ancient landscapes.[47] His touch is apparent and spontaneous.
Then came the North American period. Gradually, his palette began to take on a specific range of blue-gray hues, which he would continue to vary and deepen until his death.
Returning to France in the 60s,[48] he applied his palette to a wide range of religious[49] and intimate[50] themes, Parisian interiors,[51] female nudes,[52] erotic scenes[53] and enigmatic mythological scenes.[54][55]
La Famine en Russie Bolcheviste, written testimony by Serge Ivanoff, illustrated with 31 drawings by the author. Nouvelle Librairie Nationale, Paris, 1924
Serge Ivanoff, Ambassade de Russie à Paris - Catalog of the exhibition, May 2006.
^I.E. Repin St.Petersburg State Academy Institute of Painting, Sculpture And Architecture as part of the Russian Academy of Arts
"Russian Academy of Arts". Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
Reclining nude (1982)
Reclining nude (undated)
Two women reclining on a bed
Woman bathing
The painter and his model
The knight and the maiden
The Baptism of Christ
Mythological scene
