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Painter, graphic artist, teacher. Descended from Swedish ancestors. Born in the family of Vladimir Johanson in Moscow (1893). Studied at Pyotr Kelin’s art classes in Moscow (1912–13) and under Arkhip Kuinji, Abram Arkhipov, Nikolai Kasatkin, Sergei Malyutin and Konstantin Korovin at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1913–18). Member of the Society of Artists of the Moscow School (1922), founding member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1922). Professor, doctor of art criticism (1939). People’s Artist of the USSR (1943), full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1947), president of the Academy of Arts of the USSR (1958–62). Headed a creative studio at the Academy of the Arts of the USSR in Leningrad (1949–62) and Moscow (1962–68). Died in Moscow and buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery (1973). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1914). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1922–32), Russian Association of Proletarian Artists (1931–32), Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne in Paris (1937, grand prix), New York World’s Fair (1939–40) and Expo ‘58 in Brussels (1958, gold medal).