Elena Guro

Elena Genrikhovna Guro (Russian: Еле́на Ге́нриховна Гуро́; IPA: [jɪˈlʲɛnə ˈɡʲɛnrʲɪxəvnə ɡʊˈro]; in marriage Matyushina (Russian: Матю́шина; IPA: [mɐˈtʲuʂɪnə]; January 10, 1877 – May 6, 1913) was a Russian Futurist painter, playwright, poet, and writer of fiction.

Early life

Guro was born in St. Petersburg on January 10, 1877. Her father was Genrikh Stepanovich Guro, an officer in the Imperial Russian Army of French descent. Her mother Anna Mikhailovna Chistyakova was a talented amateur artist. Guro spent her childhood in the village of Novosely near Pskov and at her father's estate in Luga. She inherited a government pension and property in Finland from her father, using both to support her artistic career. Her sister Ekaterina was also a writer.

Career

From 1890 to 1893 she studied art at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in St Petersburg. From 1903 to 1905 she studied in the private studio of Jan Ciągliński where she met her future husband Mikhail Matyushin (they were married in 1906). In 1905 she illustrated the Russian translation of a book of fairy tales by George Sand. In 1906 she and Matyushin moved to the school of Elizaveta Zvantseva, where Guro worked under Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Léon Bakst and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. In 1908 she left the school and established her own studio. By 1908 her home was a central meeting place for discussions on art and literature.