Ivan Bogdanov

Ivan Bogdanov was born in Moscow in 1855. His father was a tailor. From 1878 to 1889 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture¹. He became interested in the history and culture of 18th-century France and Russia, and painted many scenes depicting the life and customs of those periods. He also illustrated books, such as Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman and The Queen of Spades, and Tolstoy's War and Peace. He was one of the founders of the World of Art magazine and movement, along with his friends Sergei Diaghilev, Léon Bakst, and others. The World of Art aimed to promote the aesthetic values and individuality of the artists, and to revive the traditions of the Russian art. Bogdanov also worked as a scene and costume designer for the Ballets Russes, a famous ballet company founded by Diaghilev in 1909. He created designs for many ballets, such as The Golden Cockerel, The Firebird, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, and others. His designs were characterized by elegance, sophistication, and historical accuracy. He also collaborated with composers such as Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky, and Claude Debussy. He died in Moscow in 1932. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of the illustration and design genres in Russian art.