Pavel Bazhenov

Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer, book illustrator, designer, decorator, applied artist. Born in the family of an icon-painter called Dmitry Bazhenov in the village of Podolino in Vladimir Province (1904). Studied at the workshops of the Committee for the Patronage of Russian Icon-Painting in Palekh (1915–17). Worked in agriculture (1918–26). Trained at the Palekh Artel of Old Painting (from 1926). Member of the Artel in Palekh (1928) and the Union of Artists (1934). Designed Soviet cartoon films (1936–37), playing cards (1937) and stage sets (1937–40). Killed at the age of thirty-seven in the village of Lomy in Ivanovo Region while travelling to the front during the Second Word War and buried in Rybinsk (1941). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1929), including Play and Passion in Russian Fine Art at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg (1999).