Background
Ethnicity:
Léopold Survage was of Russian, Danish and Finnish descent. His father was Finnish.
Survage was born in Vilmanstrand, Finland, on July 31, 1879.
Moscow, Russian Federation
Survage enrolled at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (now Surikov Art Institute in Moscow) in 1901. Survage completed his studies there in 1906.
Ethnicity:
Léopold Survage was of Russian, Danish and Finnish descent. His father was Finnish.
Survage was born in Vilmanstrand, Finland, on July 31, 1879.
As a child Léopold Survage dreamt about becoming an architect. However, at a young age, Survage was directed to enter the piano factory operated by his father. He learned to play piano, and then completed a commercial diploma in 1897.
Seeing the artworks of Gauguin and Cézanne in the Morosov collection made him decide to pursue painting. He enrolled at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (now Surikov Art Institute in Moscow) in 1901; there he got acquainted with Archipenko, Larionov, Pevsner and Sudeikin. Together they formed the Symbolist group "The Blue Rose" in 1905. Survage completed his studies in 1906.
By 1908, Survage was in Paris where he attended Matisse’s course for a short while.
Survage exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds (also called Knave Of Diamonds) group in Moscow in 1910. The group included Kandinsky, Chagall and Malevich and was one of the most influential organisations for promoting contemporary art. He showed his artworks in France for the first time at the Salon d'Automne of 1911.
After an early Fauvist phase Léopold Survage joined the Cubists while the movement was just developing. He took an active part in their experiments and exhibited with them at the Salon des Indépendants in 1911. In 1912 Survage started his work on a groundbreaking series “Rythmes Colorés” for which he produced two hundred totally abstract compositions.
The artist’s contribution to the 1914 Salon des Indépendants was noted by the famous poet and critic Guillaume Apollinaire. In June 1914 in order to develop his idea, Survage unsuccessfully applied for a patent to the Gaumont Film Company. Apollinaire later organised Survage’s solo exhibition in 1917 at the Galerie Bougard. Beginning in 1917, Léopold Survage shared a studio with Amedeo Modigliani in Paris. It was during these years that he started to create one of his most famous and influential series, the Cubistic city scenes “Paysages Cubistes”.
In 1919 Survage became highly active with the legendary Séction d’ Or group. He was its founding member. The group consisted of all the modern masters, Archipenko, Van Doesburg, Gris, Braque, Boccioni, Leger, Picasso, etc. Together they held revolutionary exhibits in such cities as Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels and Rome. Around this time Léopold Survage also started to exhibit at the famous Galerie L’Effort Moderne of Léonce Rosenberg. There during the 1920s Survage displayed his artworks at several major exhibitions, including L’Effort Moderne, Les Maitres du Cubisme, Synthèse et Construction. Later he became involved with the activities of De Stijl and produced a series of works for the Bauhaus.
By 1922, Léopold Survage had begun to move away from Cubism in favour of the neo-classical form. Perhaps, he was influenced by commissions for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, beginning with costumes and sets for Igor Stravinsky's opera buffa Mavra at the Paris Opéra in 1922. In spite of being mainly a painter, he also created stage, tapestry, and textile designs during this period.
During the following years the artist participated in several international exhibitions, most notably at the Knoedler Gallery, New York, 1929; the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 1930; the exhibition of Avant-Garde Artists in Tokyo, 1933. Toward the end of the 1930s, as a result of his contact with André Masson, Survage became increasingly charmed by symbols and mysticism and his artworks became increasingly Surreal. The artist drew inspiration from ancient philosophies. His visionary goal was to interpret in obvious signs and images the profound realities of life.
Léopold Survage's reputation continued to be reinforced through numerous exhibitions over the next few decades, such as at the Musée des beaux-arts, Lyon, in 1968.
Femme et oiseau
Colored Rhythms II
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Le Voyage Dans L'Infini, Le Depart
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Destins
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Portrait de nonnes
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Décor de Thêatre pour Les Euclides
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Homme dans la ville
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Les Présences
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Paysage - l'homme dans la ville
Landscape
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
The Beauty and the Beast
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
L'oiseau
Woman and Bird
Les Porteuses d'Eau
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Untitled
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Femmes De San Giminiano
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
La ville
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Untitled
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Composition Cubiste
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Colored Rhythm: Study for the Film
Quotations: "Coloured music is in no way an illustration or an interpretation of a musical work. It is an autonomous art, although based on the same psychological principles as music."
Léopold Survage was married to Hélène Moniuschko.