Alexander ALEXEEV

5 (18) August 1901 (Kazan or Ufa) — 9 августа 1982 (Paris)

graphic designer, artist-аниматор, Director

Early childhood spent in Constantinople, where his father worked as a military attaché. After his father vanished under mysterious circumstances along with his family returned to Russia. Studied in the First cadet corps in St. Petersburg (1912-1917). In the mid 1910-х passion for art; got permission to draw in Museum. At the beginning of the revolution he moved to relatives in Ufa, attended School of the arts Д. Д. Бурлюка. In 1919 he appeared in Vladivostok; studied at Marine military Academy (1919).

In 1920 left Russia through Japan, China, India, Egypt and England made it to France. From 1921 he settled in Paris. He studied at the School of Oriental languages. Met С. Ю. Судейкиным, studied in his Studio and worked as an assistant Sudeikin. Attended classes at the académie de La Grande chaumière.

In 1922-1925 — decorator-исполнитель in many theatres and troupes: Н. Ф. Балиева, Ж. Питоева, Ф. Ф. Комиссаржевского, Gaston Batey, Louis Juve and others. Participated in the design of performances of Russian ballet С. П. Дягилева and the Swedish ballet.

In 1923 he married actress Ж. Питоева А. А. Гриневской; in the same year they had a daughter — Svetlana (the future artist — С. А. Алексеева-Рокуэлл).

Worked in the techniques of drawing with pen and brush, etching, aquatint, lithography, woodcut, montage. To book graphics. Issued publications: "diary of a madman" Н. В. Гоголя (1927), "Queen of spades" (1928) and "Belkin's stories" (1930) А. С. Пушкина, "the Brothers Karamazov" Ф. М. Достоевского (1929).

Participated in the exhibition "7 иллюстраторов" (1927), "Sleep in art and literature" (1939) in gallery "d'art Contemporian"; joint А. В. Бродовичем the exhibition in the gallery "J. Povolotzky" (1928); the exhibition of Russian art in Brussels (1928), Autumn salon (1928, 1938). Held an exhibition of illustrations to the novel Ф. М. Достоевского "the Brothers Karamazov" (lithography) in gallery "d'art Contemporian" (1929).

In 1930, a severe illness caused by working with acid, led to the removal of easy and prolonged treatment in sanatoria.

On his return to Paris became interested in experimental cinema; under the impression from the film "Mechanical ballet" Ф. Леже and "Idea" Б. Барташа began experiments in the field of cinema. Has developed a way of filming animated films with so-called "needle screen": a vertical plane that passes through uniformly distributed needle; facing the edge of the lens they are not visible, but when pressed on the needle surface give different shadows long; by moving the light source and the movement of the needles is achieved interesting effects. In 1933, together with assistant К. Паркер removed in this technique 8-минутный animated movie "Night on Bald mountain" to the music М. П. Мусоргского. In the same year he founded the animation film Studio, which worked П. Гранвиль, А. Гриневская, К. Паркер, Ж. Виоле, Е. Раик. Put puppet-игровой film "Sleeping beauty". Engaged in the creation of commercials.

In 1940, he moved to the United States, where he settled with relatives assistant К. Паркер. In 1941 he got a divorce and married a Parker. In 1943 took off in Canada in the technique of "needle-like" screen movie "in Passing".

In 1946 вернулся in Paris. In the second half of the 1940s — 1970-х has created more than 50 рекламных commercials for companies Evian, Esso, L'oreal, Osram, Nescafe, Renault and others. The author of animated films "the Nose" based on the novel Н. В. Гоголя (1963, the prize count de Lanua at the International festival of experimental cinema in Belgium, the diploma of the International short film festival in Oberhausen), "Pictures at an exhibition" (1972) and "Three themes" (1980) on musical topics М. П. Мусоргского; the prologue and epilogue to the film "the Process" based on the novel by Ф. Кафки (dir. О. Уэлс, 1962). He was awarded honorary diplomas for animated films at the Venice Biennale (1952, 1954); festival in Monte-Карло, prize of the Cannes film festival (1955). Member of the French film Academy (1954). One of the founders of the festival of animated films in Annecy (1960).

Continued fruitful work in the field of book graphics; has issued the book "the Word about Igor's regiment" (1950), "Doctor Zhivago" Б. Л. Пастернака (1959), "Tales" Э.-Т.-А. Гофмана (1960), "Notes from underground" Ф. М. Достоевского (1967), "Anna Karenina" Л. Н. Толстого (1951-1957, not published).

his personal exhibitions were Held in Paris (1968, 1975).

Posthumous exhibition of works took place in Paris (1984, 1991), St. Petersburg (1995 — illustrations for the novel "the Brothers Karamazov" Ф. М. Достоевского), Moscow (2011 — private collection Б. Фридмана); retrospective exhibition and screening of films took place in the framework of XIX international film festival (1995).

Alekseev Foundation workshop is the Archive service of the National center of cinematography of France. Graphic works are kept in the Fondation Art ex East in Geneva.

had a significant impact on the development of cinema and animation, among the disciples and followers of — С. Брекидж, Н. МакЛарен, Т. Бертон, Ю. Б. Норштейн, А. К. Петров and others. The life and work of the artist dedicated to the movies Ж. Мусселя "My illustrated world" (1971), В. Г. Непевного "Dreams about Alfeon" (2002); animated film Н. МакЛарена "Needle screen" (1973).

Sources:
1. Lacking О. Л., Makhrov К. В., Severyukhin Д. Я. Artists of the Russian Diaspora. 1917-1939. Encyclopedic dictionary. St. Petersburg, 1999. P. 78-80.
2. Russian expatriates in France. 1919-2000. Biographical dictionary. M., 2010, vol. 1. P.37-38.
3. en.wikipedia.org