Exter Alexandra

Exter, Alexandra Alexandrovna (1882, Belostok (Hrodno Gubernia) — 1949, Fontenay-aux-Roses (France))
Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer, book illustrator, created “manuscript” books and designed clothes. Studied at the Kiev School of Art (1901– 1903, 1906–1908, not enrolled). Lived in Kiev, Moscow and Paris (periodically from 1907 to 1924), where she had a studio. Personally acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Guillaume Apollinaire and Max Jacob and the Italian Futurists Ardengo Soffici, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Giovanni Papini. Associated with such members of the Russian artistic colony in Paris as Nathan Altman, Marc Chagall, David Sterenberg and Vladimir Baranoff- Rossiné. Met Alexander Tairov (1915) and designed for the Chamber Theatre in Moscow (1915). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1908) including Link (1908), Wreath of Stefanos (1909); Union of Youth (1910 and 1913–1914), Knave of Diamonds (1910–1914, 1916–1917), No. 4: Futurists, Rayists, Primitives (1914), Exposition des Arts Décoratifs (Paris, 1925, gold medal). First solo exhibition at Sturm Galerie (1927, Berlin). Taught at VKhUTEMAS (Moscow, 1921–1922) and Fernand Léger’s Académie d’Art Moderne in Paris (1925–1930). Helped to design the Soviet pavilion for the XIV Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte in Venice (1924). Settled in the suburb of Fontenay-aux-Roses (1928).