Valentina Khodasevich

Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer. Granddaughter of Polish photographer Felicjan Chodasiewicz (circa 1834–1911), niece of the writer Vladimir Khodasevich (1886–1939). Born in Moscow (1894) in the family of lawyer Mikhail Khodasevich (1865–1925). Studied at the Stroganov School of Art and Industry (late 1900s), in Fyodor Roehrberg’s private studio in Moscow (late 1900s), under Gustav Essig in Munich (1910–11) and under Kees van Dongen in Paris (1911–12). Collaborated with Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Vesnin and other members of the Russian avant-garde in Moscow (1912). Married the artist Andrei Dideriks (1913) and moved to St Petersburg (1913). Painted mostly portraits and still-lifes. Drew for books and journals (second half of the 1910s). Illustrated the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm for Joseph Knebel (1914). Abandoned easel painting and took up theatrical design (1918). Worked in and near Berlin (1922), lived in England, France and Italy (1924–25), visiting Maxim Gorky in Sorrento. Principal designer of the Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Leningrad (1932–36). Worked for USSR in Construction (1937). Moved to Moscow (1953). Died in Leningrad and buried in Moscow (1970).