Blue Rayonism - Mikhail Larionov - Framed picture 11 x 14

Mikhail Fyodorovich Larionov was an avant-garde Russian painter.

Larionov entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under Isaac Levitan and Valentin Serov. He was suspended three times for his radical outlook.

From 1902 his style was Impressionism. After a visit to Paris in 1906 he moved into Post-Impressionism and then a Neo-primitive style which derived partly from Russian sign painting.

In 1908 he staged the Golden Fleece exhibition in Moscow, which included paintings by international avant-garde artists such as Matisse, Derain, Braque, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Other group shows promoted by him included Tatlin, Chagall and Malevich.

Larionov was a founding member of two important Russian artistic groups "Jack of Diamonds" and the more radical "Donkey's Tail". He gave names to both groups. Larionov was influenced by the Georgian artist Niko Pirosmani.

In 1913 he created Rayonism, which was the first creation of near-abstract art in Russia.