Known as Survage, he studied piano and at the same time acquired a business degree as he was scheduled to assume control of the family piano business. At the age of twenty-two he was attacked by a serious illness and turned toward painting. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
He allied himself with the Russian avant garde and became a friend of Alexander Archipenko. In 1909 he settled in Paris and for a brief period of time attended Matisse’s school. He presented his first work in Paris in 1911 at the Salon d’ Automne, after being urged to do so by Archipenko.
In 1912 he moved on to Cubism, the same year as Mondrian and Diego Rivera. He produced abstract compositions using thinned ink under the title Colored Rhythm; its aim was to animate in precisely the same way as the cinema, giving a feeling of color and motion in space, thus creating “symphonies of color”, as the images followed one another. Several of these works were exhibited at the Salon d’ Automne in 1914 and the Salon des Independants in 1914. Apollinaire published laudatory articles about him and offered his support to this painter who landed a contract with the film production company Gaumont and designed one of the first abstract films, entitled Rytheme Colore. But the outbreak of war frustrated his plans.
He made costumes and sets for the Ballet Russe and his acquaintance with masson brought him into contact with surrealism.
The study of Byzantine art in his homeland influenced him in his later works, both in regard to the organization of his large decorative compositions and in the framing of the characteristic figures in his work. His subjects illustrate dramatic themes, composing ballets in strictly structured geometrical spaces.
In 1963 he became a member of the Legion of Honor.
His first studied painting with Jacques Emile Blanche and his early works were clearly influenced by him.
He continued at the Scandinavian Academy in Paris where he met Gruber.
He then continued his studies at the Royal College of Arts in London in 1932.
He exhibited his work for the first time in 1926 at the Salon of the Nationale Societe des Beaux Arts in Paris falsifying his age. He participated in Salons and group exhibitions and had many solo exhibitions, not only in France but London and Chicago as well. He was constantly changing his style and made use of numerous influences, including Gruber, Andre Marchand and from Tal-Coat. From 1941 to 1944 he lived with Tal-Coat in the Chateau Noir, Cezanne’s old residence in Aix-en-Provence and assisted him in his inquiries. After 1948 he managed to free himself from all these various influences and develop his own personal style. He also did two wall paintings.
She began her studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Reims but in 1925 dropped them and settled in Paris. There she studied at the Ecole des Artes Decoratifs and the Ecole des Beaux Arts.
She had regular exhibitions at the Salon d’ Automne and the Salon des Independants as well as elsewhere. In 1932 she won the Blumenthal Prize for her engravings. In 1935 she held her first solo exhibition in Paris which was followed by solo exhibitions in Warsaw, Reims, Algeria, Amsterdam and Brussels, to name but a few. In 1980 a exhibition in her honor was held at the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais.
She set down her impressions from her travels in engravings, the best known of which is the series Pologne in 1938 which was published by the French state.
In 1954 she was proclaimed Knight of the Legion of Honor and Arts and Letters.
He studied at the Ecole des ArtsDecoratifs and the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He participated in many group exhibitions in France as well as England, Canada and Sweden. In 1913 he became director of the fresco studio at the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts and in 1935 he was appointed to organize a large exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris under the little Artistes de ce Temps. In 1946 he engraved many banknotes for the Bank of France and also illustrated books.
He was proclaimed Knight of the Legion of Honor.