Sold at Auction: Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster

Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster (18 January 1882 – 17 March 1949), also known as Alexandra Exter, was a Russian Cubo-Futurist, Suprematist, Constructivist painter and designer of international stature who divided her life between Kiev, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vienna, and Paris. She was born Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Grigorovich in Bialystok, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Poland) to a wealthy Belarusian family. Her father, Aleksandr Grigorovich, was a wealthy Belarusian businessman. Her mother was Greek. Young Aleksandra received an excellent private education, studying languages, music, art, and taking private drawing lessons. Soon her parents moved to Kyiv (Kiev), and Asya, as called by her friends, attended Kiev gymnasium St. Olga and Kiev Art School, where she studied with Alexander Bogomazov and Alexander Archipenko. Her teachers included Mykola Pymonenko. Aleksandra graduated in painting from Kiev Art School in 1906.