Alexei Morgunov

Aleksei Alekseevich Morgunov (; 21 October 1884, Moscow – 15 February 1935, Moscow) was a Russian Avant-Garde painter. His works were originally in the Neo-Primitivist style, but became influenced by Fauvism. Together with Kazimir Malevich and Ivan Kliun, he created a style known as "Februaryism". He later took up Neo-Classicism, then was forced to adopt the Socialist Realism model.

Biography He is generally believed to have been the illegitimate son of the painter, Alexei Savrasov and, like him, suffered from alcoholism in his later years. His mother, Yekaterina, died in 1920. His initial studies began at the Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry in 1899, but he also took private lessons from Konstantin Korovin and Sergey Ivanov. In 1904, he was accepted as a member of the and began to participate in their exhibitions. From 1909 to 1910, he travelled throughout Western Europe and came under the influence of Impressionism.

Upon returning, he established an informal workshop which became a meeting place for left-wing artists. He also associated with a group of radical artists led by Mikhail Larionov and participated in his ground-breaking exhibition called the "Jack of Diamonds". He also exhibited with Larionov's even more radical group called the Donkey's Tail in 1912. By 1914, he had begun to move in other directions. For some of those years, he also served as a teacher at his alma mater, the Stroganov Academy (then known as the "First Free State Art Workshops") and participated in "Proletkult". He eventually adopted the requisite style of Socialist Realism. In the 1930s, several of his paintings were reproduced as postcards.

Thanks to the collector, George Costakis, some of his Fevrialist works may be seen at the Museum of Modern Art in Thessaloniki.

Selected paintings