Mikhail Vasilyevich Matyushin

Mikhail Vasilyevich Matyushin (born 1861, Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Empire—died October 14, 1934, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R. [now St. Petersburg, Russia]) was a Russian painter, composer, and theoretician who was a leading member of the Russian avant-garde. Matyushin attended the Moscow Conservatory from 1878 to 1881 and was already a professional musician—first violinist of the St. Petersburg Court Orchestra (1881–1913)—when he began painting. He initially worked as a self-taught artist and completed art studies at the...