Survage, Léopold

(1879-1968)

   painter

   Of Russian origin, Léopold Frédéric Sturzwage, or Léopold Survage as he is known, was born in Moscow to a Finnish mother and a Danish father. He was introduced to Western art by the collector Chtchoukine, then in 1908 went to Paris. His first works show the influence of paul cézanne and cubism, which he interpreted, with the encouragement of Guillaume Apollinaire, in his Rythmes colorés (1912-13). He joined with other artists in the Section d'Or and served as that group's secretary. He moved stylistically toward a synthesis of forms, with urban landscapes (Villefranche-sur-Mer, 1915) and a return to the human figure (Le Paysan, 1915). In 1922, Survage created the sets for Sergey Diaghilev's ballet Mavra and, in 1937, received a gold medal for his three panels done for the palais de Chemins de fer at the Paris universal Exposition.