Maldzis Acquired an Early Painting by Mikhail Kikoine. The painting was purchased with funds from Pavel Daneika and Ivan Shyla

The acquired work was executed in oil painting technique on board. It has an oval shape and is signed by the author.

The painting is titled «Portrait of a Woman» and is dated 1918–1920. This is the artist's early Parisian period, when he still lived in the poor artists' dormitory «La Ruche» («The Beehive») and was just beginning to gain recognition.

Kikoine's work was purchased with funds from Pavel Daneika, Ivan Shyla, as well as a patron who wished to remain anonymous.

«The return of the names of artists from the Paris School is not just about working with the past and our historical memory, as we restore forgotten or unknown pages and figures. Kikoine's fate and work provide us with new proof that Belarus was part of European culture and made a significant contribution to its development», — says Pavel Matsukevich, head of the initiative.

Павялічыць

About the artist

The artist was born on May 14, 1892, into the Jewish Kikoine family in Gomel. His father worked in a bank. Soon the family moved to Rezhitsa, Vitebsk Governorate (now the Latvian city of Rēzekne). In 1904, the Kikoines moved from there to Minsk.

From 1905, Mikhail studied at the Minsk Commercial School and concurrently attended classes at Yakov Kruger's private art school. Here he became friends with Chaim Soutine.

In 1909, Kikoine, along with Soutine, moved to Vilnius against his family's will and enrolled in the Vilnius Art School — then the main educational institution for painters in our region.

In Vilnius, Kikoine and Soutine met Pinchus Krémègne — this marked the beginning of a long-standing friendship between the three artists.

Mikhail was also involved in revolutionary activities — joining the Jewish social democratic party «Bund».

In 1912, Kikoine moved to France, to Paris, where he settled in «La Ruche» — the famous house created for young artists by the patron Alfred Boucher.

Art critic and diplomat Uladzimir Shchasny wrote that Kikoine lived in «The Beehive» for fifteen years. During this time, he married and became a father of two children.

He was able to leave this place only after his paintings began to sell successfully in galleries and salons. At that time, he was 36 years old.

In 1919, Kikoine's first solo exhibition took place in Paris at the «Cheron» gallery. The main genres of his work were landscape, still life, and portrait.

Павялічыць

In 1924, Mikhail Kikoine obtained French citizenship. In 1926, he acquired a house in Burgundy, where he came to work for many years.

In 1939, after the outbreak of World War II, the artist was drafted into the French army, where he served in a reserve regiment in Soissons. After France's capitulation, Kikoine was demobilized, and he returned to Paris. From 1941–1944, hiding from the Nazis, he lived with his family near Toulouse. The artist died in Paris on November 4, 1968.

Mikhail Kikoine's works are preserved in private and museum collections in France, the USA, Japan, Israel, and other countries worldwide. In Belarus, they are held in the National Art Museum and the corporate collection of «Belgazprombank».

The return of Mikhail Kikoine's name and artistic legacy to the Belarusian cultural context is an important step towards restoring Belarus's rightful place in the history of world art.

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