Альтман, Натан Исаевич

Painter, graphic artist, designer.

Born Vinnitsa (Ukraine), 22 December 1889

Died Leningrad, 12 December 1970

Natan Isaevich Altman was born December, 22 1889, in Vinnitsa, a small city in the south of the Ukraine. His father died when Natan was four years old and he and his mother went to live with his grandparents. Altman studied painting and sculpture at the Odessa School of Art  from October 1902 till May 1907. He travelled from Vienna over Munich to Paris. At the end of 1911 Altman returned to Russia and lived again in Vinnitsa were he made himself a living by teaching art. He went to St. Petersburg in 1912 and from 1913 till 1916 he worked as an illustrator for the satirical journal Novyi Satirikon [New Satirikon]. In 1918 he took the seat of head of the section for the artistic works which saw to the ornation of official buildings, palaces, factories and public places. He became the first director of the Museum of Painterly Culture that was dedicated to the art of the Russian avant-garde. In 1922 Altman moved to Moscow and worked as a theatrical designer for the Jewish State Theatre and the Habima Theatre. During the 1920s Altman specialized in book art and designed the covers and illustrations. In 1928 Altman remained in Paris. During his stay (1928-1936) he maintained the contact with Soviet writers and artists and saw himself as a defender of the Soviet culture abroad. In Paris he worked mainly as a painter and book illustrator. In 1936 Altman returned to Moscow but soon moved to Leningrad where he would work and live until his death on December 12, 1970.

1914

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