Yelena Genrikhovna Guro

Russian artist and writer

Also known as: Elena Genrikhovna Guro

Written by

Andrei D. Sarabianov

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

History

Yelena Genrikhovna Guro (born Jan. 10 [Jan. 22, New Style], 1877, St. Petersburg, Russia—died April 23 [May 6], 1913, Uusikirkko [now Polyany], Karelia) was a Russian painter, graphic artist, book illustrator, poet, and prose writer who developed new theories of colour in painting. These theories were implemented by her husband, the painter Mikhail Matyushin, after her untimely death. In her work she unified two eras in the development of art—Art Nouveau and the 20th-century avant-garde—in...