Nicolai CIKOVSKY
USA

(1894 - 1984)
Cikovsky was born in Pinsk, Poland. The son of a fisherman and his wife, he was encouraged to paint and draw at an early age. He went on to receive his formal art training in Russia, studying at the Vilna Art School (1910-14), where Chaim Soutine was a fellow pupil, and at the Penza Royal Art School (1914-18), where he met the vanguard painter Vladimir Tatlin. Following this, Cikosvky attended classes under Favorsky and Mashkow at the Moscow Technical Institute of Art (1921-23), known for its promotion of progressive modes of painting. From 1919 until 1921 he was an instructor at the Ekaterinenburg Higher Technical Art Institute. During these years, Cikovsky’s painting style was influenced by avant-garde European art, ranging from the Post-Impressionism of Paul Cézanne and the Fauvism of Henri Matisse to styles such as Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism. Cikovsky was born in Pinsk, Poland. The son of a fisherman and his wife, he was encouraged to paint and draw at an early age. He went on to receive his formal art training in Russia, studying at the Vilna Art School (1910-14), where Chaim Soutine was a fellow pupil, and at the Penza Royal Art School (1914-18), where he met the vanguard painter Vladimir Tatlin. Following this, Cikosvky attended classes under Favorsky and Mashkow at the Moscow Technical Institute of Art (1921-23), known for its promotion of progressive modes of painting. From 1919 until 1921 he was an instructor at the Ekaterinenburg Higher Technical Art Institute. During these years, Cikovsky’s painting style was influenced by avant-garde European art, ranging from the Post-Impressionism of Paul Cézanne and the Fauvism of Henri Matisse to styles such as Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism.