View source for Pavel Filonov

{{short description|Russian painter}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Pavel Filonov
| image         = File:Pavel-filonov.jpg 
| image_size    =
| caption       = 1938-1939
| birth_name    =
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1883|1|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Moscow, Russia]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1941|12|3|1883|1|8|mf=y}}
| death_place   =
| nationality   = Russian
| known_for     = Painting
| training      =
| movement      =
| notable_works =
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
}}

'''Pavel Nikolayevich Filonov''' ({{lang-rus|Па́вел Никола́евич Фило́нов|p=ˈpavʲɪl nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ fʲɪˈlonəf|a=Pavyel Nikolayevich Filonov.ru.vorb.oga}}; January 8, 1883 – December 3, 1941) was a [[Russian avant-garde]] painter, art theorist, and poet.

==Biography==
[[Image:Pavel Filonov Glebova.jpg|thumb|200px|right|''Portrait of E.&nbsp;N.&nbsp;Glebova'' (the artist's sister), 1915, oil on canvas. 117x152.5&nbsp;cm. [[Russian Museum]].]]
Filonov was born in Moscow on January 8, 1883 ([[Gregorian calendar]]) or December 27, 1882 ([[Julian calendar]]). In 1897, he moved to [[Saint Petersburg|St.&nbsp;Petersburg]], where he began taking art lessons. In 1908, he entered [[Imperial Academy of Arts|St.&nbsp;Petersburg Academy of Arts]] but was expelled in 1910.

Between 1910 and 1914, Filonov was a member of the art group [[Soyuz Molodyozhi]] ("Union of Youth"), founded by artists [[Elena Guro]] and [[Mikhail Matyushin]]. In 1912, he wrote ''The Canon and the Law'', an article in which he articulated the principles of [[analytical art|analytical realism]], also known as "anti-Cubism". According to Filonov, while [[Cubism]] represents objects using elements of surface geometry, analytical realism seeks to represent objects through the elements of their inner essence or soul. He remained committed to these principles throughout his life.
[[Image:Pavel Filonov HolyFamily.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[Peasant Family|A Peasant Family (The Holy Family)]]'', 1914, oil on canvas, 159x128 cm, [[Russian Museum]].]]

During 1913–1915, he associated closely with futurists such as [[Vladimir Mayakovsky]], [[Velimir Khlebnikov]], and other [[Russian Futurism|futurists]]. He collaborated with [[Kazimir Malevich]] to illustrate Khlebnikov's ''Selected Poems with Postscript'', 1907–1914. <ref name="WDL">{{cite web |url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/9236/ |title = Selected Poems with Postscript, 1907–1914 |website = [[World Digital Library]] |year = 1914 |access-date = 2013-09-28 }}</ref> In the autumn of 1916, he enlisted to serve in World War I and was stationed on the [[Romania]]n front. Filonov later took an active role in the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]], serving as Chairman of the Revolutionary War Committee in the Dunay region.

In 1919, he participated in the "First Free Exhibit of Artists of All Trends" at the [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]]. By 1923, he had become a professor at the St.&nbsp;Petersburg Academy of Arts and a member of the Institute for Artistic Culture (INKhUK). There, he founded the Masters of Analytical Realism, a significant art school with over seventy members, including the American sculptor and painter [[Helen Hooker]]. The group's work had a lasting influence on movements such as [[suprematism]] and [[expressionism]].

A major retrospective of Filonov's work was planned at the [[Russian Museum]] in 1929, but the Soviet government prohibited it. From 1932 onward, Filonov endured severe poverty, refusing to sell his works to private collectors. He wished to donate his entire collection to the Russian Museum to establish a Museum of Analytical Realism. He died of starvation on December 3, 1941, during the [[Siege of Leningrad]].

==Method==
Under the umbrella of [[Universal Flowering]], Filonov developed a distinctive method of working that emphasized proceeding from the particular to the general. He believed that objects and compositions should be constructed from small details and fragments, considering any attempt to work in the opposite direction as nothing short of "charlatanism." To adhere to this philosophy, he used - and required his students to use - very small brushes for painting and the finest points for drawing.

==Legacy==
[[File:Filonov Selfportrait 1921.JPG|thumb|right|Self portrait, 1921]]
Most of Filonov's works were preserved by his sister, Yevdokiya Nikolayevna Glebova. She stored his paintings in the archives of the Russian Museum and eventually donated them as a gift. For many years, exhibitions of Filonov's work were prohibited. A breakthrough occurred in 1967 when a display of his works was allowed in [[Novosibirsk]]. Later, in 1988, his art was officially exhibited at the Russian Museum, followed by the first international exhibitions in Paris in 1989 and 1990.

During the years when Filonov's works had a semi-legal status, theft might have seemed easy. However, a [https://web.archive.org/web/20071230105139/http://www.tv-ostankino.ru/material/Material_459_42.htm legend] persisted that Filonov's ghost protected his art. According to the tale, anyone who attempted to steal or smuggle his paintings abroad would suffer misfortune, such as death, paralysis, or similar calamities.<!--is this encyclopedic?-->
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==Selected works==
<gallery>
Image:Pavel_Filonov_Heads.jpg|''Heads'' (1910). Filonov considered this painting to be his first real work.
Image:Pavel_Filonov_ManWoman.jpg|''A Man and a Woman (Adam and Eve)'' (1912–1913).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_KingsFeat.jpg|''The Banquet of Kings'' (1913).
Image:Pavel Filonov universal flowering.jpg|''universal flowering'' (1915).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_Pedagogics.jpg|''The Formula of Contemporary Pedagogy of IZO'' (1923).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_Horses.jpg|''Horses'' (1924–1925).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_2Heads.jpg|''Two Heads. Rabbles'' (1925).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_Animals.jpg|''Animals'' (1930).
Image:Pavel_Filonov_Faces.jpg|''Countenances (Faces on an Icon)'' (1940)
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Fine Art of Leningrad]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons-inline}}
*[http://www.abcgallery.com/F/filonov/filonov.html Pavel Filonov at Olga's Gallery]
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.starat.narod.ru/pictures/rusavang/filonov/main.htm Filonov's biography]
*[http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=12124 MoMa's Collection: Pavel Filonov]

{{Painters of Leningrad Union of Artists}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filonov, Pavel Nikolayevich}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:Analytical art]]
[[Category:Deaths by starvation]]
[[Category:Writers from Moscow]]
[[Category:Russian avant-garde]]
[[Category:Russian male poets]]
[[Category:Soviet painters]]
[[Category:Soviet poets]]
[[Category:Soviet male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian male writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Leningrad Union of Artists]]
[[Category:Painters from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian painters]]
[[Category:Russian male painters]]
[[Category:Burials at Serafimovskoe Cemetery]]
[[Category:Victims of the Siege of Leningrad]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian male artists]]