Yuriy Khrzhanovskiy(1905-1987)

Yuriy Borisovich Khrzhanovskiy is Soviet artist, actor, entertainer. He graduated from art school in Irkutsk (student of Ivan Kopylov). In 1922 he arrived in Petrograd, was admitted to the preparatory class of the Academy of Arts, where he studied under S.V. Priselkov. Since 1923 Yuriy studied at the Academy in the workshops of K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, Kazimir Malevich, Pavel Filonov. From 1927 to 1929 he was a member of the group "Masters of Analytical Art". In 1927 he participated in a large exhibition in the Press House. It was for it was intended the monumental painting by Khrzhanovskiy "Siberian Partisans", which is now in the Russian Museum. In 1929 he left painting and devoted himself entirely to the stage. He had an absolute ear for music and good acting skills. He performed in clubs and houses of culture in the genre of sound imitation, which subsequently led him to scoring. He worked in the Leningrad Theater of Miniatures. In 1939, Khrzhanovskiy became the laureate of the I All-Russian contest of pop artists and in the same year moved to Moscow, where he worked in the Music Hall and the Theater of Miniatures. During the Great Patriotic War, he performed in front-line brigades. Since the 1950s, Yuriy Khrzhanovskiy voiced more than 30 cartoons and films. Thanks to his soft voice and good-natured intonation, he primarily voiced the cubs in the cartoons. Since the late 1960s he again took up painting. During this period he creates cycles of abstract works, under the influence of Paul Klee.