30 Facts About Natalia Goncharova

Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designer, writer, illustrator, and set designer.

Natalia Goncharova was a member of the German-based art movement Der Blaue Reiter.

Natalia Goncharova was one of the leading figures in the avant-garde in Russia and carried this influence with her to Paris.

Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova was born on 3 July 1881, in Nagaevo.

Natalia Goncharova's father, Sergey Mikhaylovich Goncharov, was an architect and graduate of the prestigious Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Natalia Goncharova moved to Moscow at the age of 10 in 1892; she graduated from the Fourth Women's Gymnasium in 1898.

Natalia Goncharova was the great granddaughter of famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

Natalia Goncharova's father designed and built their home, where both Natalia and her brother Afanasii grew up.

Natalia Goncharova tried several career paths, before deciding on sculpture.

Natalia Goncharova was accepted by the Moscow Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in the autumn of 1901, where she studied to become a sculptor under Pavel Trubetskoi, who was associated with the World of Art movement.

Natalia Goncharova withdrew from the Moscow Institute in 1909, in favor of classes at Illia Mashkov and Alexander Mikhailovsky's studios, where she was able to study male and female nudes, and was trained the equivalent of what she would have learnt upon completion at the Moscow Institute had she been male.

Natalia Goncharova drew inspirations for primitivism from Russian icons and folk art, otherwise known as luboks.

Natalia Goncharova played a very important role when it came to Russian art at the time.

Natalia Goncharova was one of the leading artists in Cubo-Futurist and Rayonist circles.

Natalia Goncharova was notorious for her occasionally shocking public behaviour.

Natalia Goncharova exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in 1906.

Natalia Goncharova was a member of the avant-garde Der Blaue Reiter group from its founding in 1911.

Natalia Goncharova moved to Paris in 1921 where she designed a number of stage sets of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

Natalia Goncharova exhibited at the Salon d'Automne in 1921, and participated regularly at the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon des Independants.

Between 1922 and 1926, Natalia Goncharova created fashion designs for Marie Cuttoli's shop, Maison Myrbor on the Rue Vincent, Paris.

Natalia Goncharova's richly embroidered and appliqued dress designs were strongly influenced by Russian folk art, Byzantine mosaic and her work for the Ballets Russes.

Natalia Goncharova was the first of the pair to die, seven years later, on 17 October 1962, in Paris after a debilitating struggle with rheumatoid arthritis.

Natalia Goncharova had a successful career in fashion, where she was producing costumes for the Ballets Russes.

Natalia Goncharova worked for a famous designer Nadejda Lamonava in Moscow, where her completely artistic expression came to life.

Natalia Goncharova experimented with abstract design, colors, patterns, different combinations of material, and evidently reacting against the prevailing fashion for Orientalism.

Natalia Goncharova's designs were both influenced by Russian tradition and the Byzantine mosaics, which are visible in both the costumes and the dresses.

Natalia Goncharova designed many costumes for the Ballets Russes, most notably for the company's production of The Golden Cockerell and The Firebird.

Natalia Goncharova was a key member of the Ballets Russes and worked closely with Sergei Diaghilev and Bronislava Nijinska.

Natalia Goncharova's work had a major influence on French fashion at the time, particularly with legendary designer Paul Poiret.

Natalia Goncharova is considered one of the most expensive women artists at auction, and her work features in Russian art auctions during the bi-annual Russian Art Week in London.