Alessio Issupoff

(Kirov (Russia), 1889 - Roma, 1957)

Alexei Issupoff was a Russian painter. Born in 1889 to a family of artists as his father was a carver and gilder of icons. In fact, the artist learned to paint from the artisan painters who worked with his father and moved to Moscow, where he attended the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Following the First World War he was appointed director of the Committee for the Restoration and Conservation of works of art and city monuments. He also stayed in Italy where he exhibited in Rome and at the Venice Biennale in the 1930s. He specialized in the creation of tempera works on wooden panels depicting high-ranking Soviet leaders and scenes inspired by the Russian Revolution and the exploits of the Red Army. He was interested in the innovations of the impressionist masters as demonstrated by his fluid brushstrokes and lack of drawing.