Eugene Ivanoff
(1897-1954)
Born in St Petersburg, Russia, Eugene Ivanoff (1897-1954) was educated by tutors and at the Imperial School of Commerce where he began his art studies. During WWI he served as an officer in the Tsar's army and fought with the White Army during the Russian Civil War, eventually forced to retreat into China. In 1923, he moved to San Francisco and renewed his art studies at the California School of Fine Arts.
Ivanoff’s paintings include portraits, abstracts, and regionalist subjects. A portrait brought him first prize at the San Francisco Art Association Annual in 1929. Many exhibitions followed including a 1938 two-person show with Zygmund Sazevich at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMOMA); San Francisco Art Association Annuals, 1925-37; California Pacific International Exposition (San Diego), 1935; Paintings by Bay Region Artists: 20 Local Artists, San Francisco Museum of Art Inaugural, 1935; Foundation of Western Art (Los Angeles), 1936-41; Sacramento Art Center, 1939; Watercolors And Oils by San Francisco Artists, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1941; Marinship Artists: Work by Bay Area Artists in Shipyards, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1943; and more.
Ivanoff was a featured artist in the Art in Action exhibition at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition where the public was invited to watch artists at work. His painting, After the Grapes of Wrath, was awarded one of the top prizes in the California section of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Ivanoff, who had a great love for the theater, designed stage scenery for productions of the Russian Music Society in San Francisco. He also worked in watercolor, illustration, and woodcarving.
For a closer look, please click on a painting below.
Works on Paper