Sergey
Vassilyevich CHEKHONIN
1878 - 1936
Porcelain painter, graphic artist, book illustrator and theatre designer.
Signatures. 1917. A huge platter, autographed
by the architects of the Great October Revolution in Russia (A.Enukidze,
V.Yakovlev, V.Volodarsky, G.Zinoviev, L.Trotzky, M.Uritzky, K.Eremeyev,
A.Riazanov, N.Krestinsky, A.Lunacharsky, V.Ulyanov (Lenin), G.Chicherin,
A.Kollontai, V.Bonch-Bruyevich, S.Gussev and S.Zorin).
Painted porcelain.
Golden Hammer, Sickle
and Cog (on black centre). 1918. Plate.
Painted porcelain, diameter 24.5 cm. The Tretyakov
Gallery, Moscow.
Illustration for "Faust and City",
play by A.Lunacharsky. 1918. Publisher House "GOSIZDAT",
Moscow.
Watercolor, pen-and ink on paper, 20.5x16.2 cm.
The Rule of Workers and Peasants Shall Not End.
1919. Plate.
Painted porcelain, diameter 24 cm.
Red Ribbon with an Emblem. 1919. Plate.
Painted porcelain, diameter 24 cm.
RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist
Republic). 1919. Plate.
Painted porcelain, diameter 26.6 cm.
V.I.Lenin at Ceremonial Opening of Comintern
Congress. 1920. Live drawing.
Pencil on paper, 13.5x9.5 cm. The Central Museum of V.I.Lenin,
Moscow.
Proletarians of All Lands - Unite! 1920. Plate
with portrait of V.I.Lenin.
Painted porcelain, diameter 31 cm.
RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist
Republic). The Rule of Workers and Peasants Shall Not End. 1920. Dish.
Painted porcelain, diameter 31 cm.
A Red Sailor. 1920. Oval platter.
Painted porcelain. Museum of the State Lomonossov
Porcelain Factory.
A Banknote of 25 Rubles. 1920s. Project of
billet for the Arkhangelsk Bank.
Pen-and ink.
From the High Peaks of Science We May Sooner See
the Dawn of the New Day, than From Down
Amidst the Confusion of Everyday Life. 1921. Dish.
Painted porcelain, diameter 24 cm. Private
collection, Russia.
The Union of Art Workers in Favor of the Hungry.
1921. Poster.
RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist
Republic). 1921. Oval platter.
Painted porcelain, 33.2x27.5 cm. The Russian Museum,
St.Petersburg.
Famine. 1921. Dish.
Painted porcelain, diameter 31 cm.
Sorrow. 1921. Dish.
Painted porcelain, diameter 33.5 cm.
Cover for poetry book "Song of the
Working Hammer" by Konstantin Balmont.
1922. Publisher "GOSIZDAT" (the State Edition House).
Pen and ink on paper.
Decorative Cubistic Plate with a Hammer. 1922.
Painted porcelain, diameter 23.5 cm. The Russian
Museum, St.Petersburg.
Post Stamp. 1922. Sketch.
Pen-and-ink on paper.
Post Stamp. 1922. Sketch.
Pen-and-ink on paper.
Cover for "Ten Days that had Shocked the
World"
by John Reed. 1923.
Publisher House "Red Novelty, Moscow.
Color and black ink on paper.
Cover for the journal "Museum of
Revolution". 1923. N1, 1923.
Petersburg.
Watercolor, pen-and ink on paper.
Poster of the Society for Protection of the Old
Petersburg. 1923. Edition of the Society
for Protection of Ancient Monuments.
Watercolor, pen-and-ink on paper.
The Decembrists. 1925. Dish
created for the 100th anniversary
of the Decembrist uprising in 1825. Includes profile portraits
of 5 Decembrists who were executed: Pavel Pestel, Kondraty Ryleyev,
Sergei Muraviev-Apostol, Mikhail Bestuzhev-Riumin and Piotr Kakhovsky
(the others were exiled to Siberia)
Painted porcelain, diameter 33.1 cm.
Calendar of the Russian Revolution of 1895-1907.
January. 1925.
Pen-and-ink on paper.
Calendar of the Russian Revolution of 1895-1907.
May. 1925.
Watercolor and pen-and-ink on paper.
Sergey Vassilyevich Chekhonin has studied at the Art School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (1896-1897), has taken painting lessons from Ilya Repin at the Princess Maria Tenisheva’s private Art School in St.Petersburg (1897-1900).
The artist has worked in sculpture and ceramics at the Abramtzevo Ceramic Studio in Moscow (1904-1906).
Chekhonin has contributed caricatures and cartoons to revolutionary journals (1905-1906).
He has visited Paris (1906).
The artist has worked at the ceramics factory of Piotr Vaulin in Kikerino (near St.Petersburg), and made a number of majolica panels for buildings in St.Petersburg (1907).
He has created illustrations, drawings and vignettes for many magazines and books, and was considered the most outstanding book illustrator in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Chekhonin has received first prize for new typography design from Leman publishers (1912).
In 1910 he has joined the revived World of Art society and participated regularly in its exhibitions until 1924.
He was a specialist consultant on artistic crafts for the Ministry of Agriculture, and was director of a school for decorative work with on enamel at Rostov-Yaroslavsky (1913-1918).
He has headed a section of the State Porcelain Factory during two periods (1918-1923 and 1925-1927), and there he has organized a temporary art and design section at the former Baron A.Stieglitz School.
Chekhonin served as artistic director of the Volkhov Factory near Novgorod (1923-1924). The artist has painted many memorable plates, cups and saucers himself and created hundreds of compositions, drawings, monograms and anniversary marks for the factory. He has also attracted a number of outstanding painters and graphic designers to the factory.
The artist participated in the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris (1925, gold medal).
Chekhonin has emigrated to Paris in 1928.
He has worked as a designer for Nikita Baliev’s “Chauve-souris” cabaret and for the Ballets Russes Vera Nemchinova in Paris (1929), for the “Vogue” magazine, and has designed porcelain, jewellery and posters.