Alexander Yakovlev (Russian, 1887-1938)

Alexander Yakovlev was a Russian painter, draughtsman, designer and etcher. Born in St Petersburg he studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts between 1905 and 1913. During his studies, he became a member of the World Of Art (Mir Iskusstva) movement. His style of painting might be best defined at Neoclassical Modernism. He utilised composite stylistic references, for example, integrating Renaissance composition with Russian Lubok influence following his travels in Italy and Spain. Yakovlev also explored classical mythology in his study for a mural in the main salon of the SS Île de France. The richly diverse artistic oeuvre of Alexander Yakovlev is majorly inspired by his travels all over the globe and the opportunities to connect with the arts, traditions and cultural heritage of the areas he visited. 

In 1917 Yakovlev received a scholarship with took him to Mongolia, China and Japan where he stayed until 1919. On his return, he settled in Paris. He was the Artistic Advisor of two Citroën expeditions: in the Sahara desert and Equatorial Africa between 1924 and 1925; and in Asia between 1931 and 1932, where he travelled through Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia and China.

In the last years of his life, Yakovlev was the Director of the Painting Department of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. In his last months returned to Europe, spending his time between Paris and Capri. He died in Paris in 1938.