André Andrejew
André Andrejew (January 21, 1887 – March 13, 1967) was one of the most important art directors of the international cinema of the twentieth century. He had a distinctive, innovative style. His décors were both expressive and realistic. French writer Lucie Derain described Andrejew at the peak of his career as "an artist of the grand style, blessed with a vision of lyrical quality." Edith C. Lee wrote recently: "Believing in creative freedom rather than academic reconstruction, André Andrejew fulfilled the 20th century's notion of the romantic, individualistic artist. The unusual titillated his imagination."
Early life
André Andrejew was born in a town of Schawli (Lithuanian: Šiauliai) in tsarist Russia, (today Lithuania), on January 21, 1887 as Andrej Andrejew (Russian: Андрей Андреев). He studied architecture at the Moscow Fine Arts Academy. At the time in Russia, architecture could be studied at technical universities and with the more artistic angle at art academies, where accent was on interior design and decor and students were trained as artists. After the studies, André Andrejew worked as a decor designer at the Stanislavski´s theater in Moscow.