Aleksandra Beļcova

Aleksandra Beļcova
Born	Александра Бельцова 17 March 1892 Surazh, Russian Empire (Now Russia)
Died	1 February 1981 (aged 88) Riga, Latvian SSR
Nationality	Russian
Known for	Painting
Movement	Cubism, realism

Aleksandra Beļcova (March 17, 1892 in Surazh, Chernigov Governorate – February 1, 1981 in Riga, Latvian SSR) was a Latvian and Russian painter.

Biography

Aleksandra Beļcova graduated women gymnasium in Novozybkov in 1912. Later she started studies in Penza city art school which she graduated in 1917. While in Penza she met several latvian painters who studied there as a refugees. Among them were Jēkabs Kazaks, Konrāds Ubāns and Voldemārs Tone. Especially close relationships developed between her and Romans Suta, another Latvian painter who studied in Penza. In 1917 she goes to Petrograd and studies in State Free Art Workshop under Nathan Altman. It is here in Petrograd where her first solo exhibition is held in 1919. Just after the exhibition she moved to Latvia along with Romans Suta and became a members of the Riga Artists Group. The couple married in 1922 in Riga and after marriage they visited Paris, Berlin and Dresden. In 1923 their daughter Tatiana was born in Riga.

She was involved in the Roller group exhibitions and Riga Graphic Artists Association in the following years. Her paintings were mostly portraits and still lifes, beginning as a Cubist she turned to realism in later years. Her mediums were oil, watercolor, graphic arts and she also painted on porcelain. Flat of Aleksandra Belcova and Romans Suta in Elizabetes street 57A-26 in Riga is now turned into memorial museum and art gallery.