Léopold Survage

Léopold Survage (1879-1968) was one of the important early modernist painters whose long career carried him from the vibrant Russian avant-garde into the heart of the École de Paris. Born in Moscow, Survage studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, where he formed lasting connections with the sculptor Alexander Archipenko, the avant-garde Russian painter Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov, and the pioneering abstract artist Kazimir Malevich, then working out of Kiev. This remarkable cohort of fellow students placed Survage from his earliest years at the center of the emerging Russian avant-garde. A wealthy merchant introduced him to reproductions of works by Manet, Gauguin, and Matisse, a serendipitous exposure to modern French painting that convinced Survage to move to Paris in 1908.

Upon his arrival in Paris, Survage had the fortunate opportunity to study directly with Henri Matisse at his academy on the Boulevard des Invalides. His old friend Archipenko introduced him to the important artistic circles of the French capital, and Survage soon found himself at the heart of the pre-war Parisian avant-garde. He began exhibiting with the Cubists at the Salon des Indépendants in 1911 and continued to exhibit at the Salon d'Automne beginning in 1912.

Between 1912 and 1913 Survage created a distinctive personal style he called Rhythme Coloré, or Colored Rhythm, which presaged aspects of abstract painting that would flower fully in the decades that followed. These pictures incorporated musical references in much the same way as the abstract paintings of Wassily Kandinsky, translating rhythmic and musical structures into visual form. Many of these large music-keyed works are held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In 1919 Survage was one of the original founders of the Section d'Or, or Golden Section, along with Albert Gleizes, Georges Braque, Louis Marcoussis, and Serge Férat. This organization, also known as the Groupe de Puteaux or Puteaux Group, comprised painters and critics associated with an offshoot of Cubism called Orphism, active from 1912 to 1914. Survage continued to paint prolifically throughout his long career, and his works are held today in major international collections.