VOLOSHIN (Kirienko-Voloshin) Maximilian Alexandrovich

May 16, 1878 (Kiev) — August 11, 1932 (Koktebel)

Poet, translator, art critic, watercolorist

Voloshin was born to a family of lawyer, collegiate councilor. He spent his childhood in Taganrog and Sevastopol. Voloshin studied at Moscow Polivanovskaya Gymnasium, later — at Feodosia Gymnasium, in 1897–1899 — at the faculty of law at Moscow University.

Since 1899 Voloshin traveled across Europe; he visited Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Greece and Spain. In 1899–1907 and in 1913–1916 he lived in Paris, in 1907–1913 — alternately in St. Petersburg and Koktebel, since 1917 — in Koktebel.

Voloshin studied at the Louvre Museum School, at the Academy F. Colarossi, in the workshops of D. Whistler and E. S. Kruglikova (since 1901). He listened to the Sorbonne lectures, visited a lot of libraries of Europe. In 1906 Voloshin married the painter V. M. Sabashnikova.

He collaborated with literary miscellanies Severniye Tsvety (“The Northern Flowers”), The Griffin; magazines Vesy (“The Scales”), Zolotoye Runo (“Golden Fleece”), Apollo; newspapers Rus, Russian Art Chronicle, Utro Rossii (“The Morning of Russia”). Since 1910 Voloshin worked on monographic articles about K. F. Bogaevsky, E. S. Kruglikova, A. S. Golubkina, and M. S. Saryan. In his publications Voloshin supported art groups Bubnoviy Valet (“Jack of Diamonds”) and Osliniy khvost (“Donkey’s Tail”). Voloshin published pamphlet About Repin (1913), in which he promoted renunciation of naturalism in art.

In 1910 Voloshin published his first collection of poetry Poems. 1900–1910 (Moscow, 1910); then books of poems Anno mundi ardentis (Moscow, 1915), Iverni (Moscow, 1918), Demony glukhonemye (“Deaf-and-Dumb Demons”, Kharkov, 1919), Usobitsa (“Civil War”, Lvov, 1923), Poems about terror (Berlin, 1923) and collection of articles about culture The faces of creation (Moscow, 1914). Voloshin also translated the poems by V. Hugo, P. Verlaine, C. Baudelaire, H.-A. Barbier, H. Heine, E. Verhaeren, stories of G. Flaubert, O. Mirbeau.

In 1910s–1920s Voloshin painted a lot of landscapes of the Crimea, France and Spain. He painted mainly from memory. He participated in exhibitions of the groups Mir Iskusstva (“World of Art”, 1916–1924), Zhar-tsvet (“Fiery flower”, 1924–1929), and the art society of K. K. Kostandi (1925–1929). Two personal exhibitions of Voloshin were held in Moscow and in Leningrad (1927).

In 1920s Voloshin worked at the Crimea revolutionary committee of Conservation of Monuments of Arts and Culture. He delivered lectures about art, read his poetry. Since 1923 Voloshin’s house in Koktebel had status of free House of creativity. Since 1921 Voloshin was a member of the All-Russian union of poets, since 1931 — the All-Russian union of writers.

Voloshin died in Koktebel; he was buried on the hill Kuchuk-Enishar. The Museum was founded in Voloshin’s house-workshop.

In 2006 the exhibition of painter’s watercolors was held in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Museum of private collections).

Voloshin was one of the most important figures of Russian culture of the beginning of the 20th century. E. S. Kruglikova influenced on Voloshin’s creative work. Voloshin was also close to K. F. Bogaevsky. Voloshin’s watercolors looked like invented fantastic landscapes of ancient Kimmeria.

Works by Maximilian Voloshin are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and others.