Alexandre Benois

Alexandre (Alexander) Nikolayevich Benois (; 9 February 1960) was a Russian artist, art critic, historian, preservationist and founding member of Mir iskusstva ("World of Art"), an art movement and magazine. As a designer for the Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev, Benois exerted what is considered a seminal influence on the modern ballet and stage design. His father was Nicholas Benois, a Russian architect. His brothers included Albert, a painter, and Leon, also a notable architect. His sister, Maria, married the composer and conductor Nikolai Tcherepnin (with whom Alexandre would work). Not planning a career in the arts, Alexandre graduated from the Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg Imperial University, in 1894.

Entry into art career

Three years later while in Versailles, Benois painted a series of watercolors depicting Last Promenades of Louis XIV. When exhibited by Pavel Tretyakov in 1897, they brought him to attention of Sergei Diaghilev and the artist Léon Bakst. Together the three men founded the art magazine and movement Mir iskusstva (World of Art), which promoted the Aesthetic Movement and Art Nouveau in Russia. Illustrations from this volume were featured at a video presentation during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.

In 1901, Benois was appointed scenic director of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the performance space for the Imperial Russian Ballet. He moved to Paris in 1905 and thereafter devoted most of his time to stage design and decor. Alexandre played a central role in the Russian artistic community both before and after the Revolution. Anna was always by his side. Her presence was positively remembered in the artistic circles with several mentions by artist like Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. She was a model painted by Léon Bakst, Valentin Serov, Zinaida Serebriakova, and others.

Notable family members include:

Alexandre's son, Nicola Alexandrovich Benois (also known as Nikolai Benois), was born in 1901, and went on to become a celebrated opera designer, creating costumes and sets for opera companies all over the world. Alexandre's nephew, Nikolai Albertovich Benois, married the opera singer Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova. Alexandre was also the uncle of Eugene Lanceray and Zinaida Serebriakova, who became recognized Russian artists, and one of the great-uncles of the British actor Sir Peter Ustinov. Alexandre was the cousin of Hans von Bartels, of the Alsace Lorraine Bartels. Benois biography contains an entire chapter dedicated to Hans von Bartels.