Théodore Strawinsky (st-petersburg 1907 – Geneva 1989) “the Red Carpet”

Théodore STRAWINSKY (St-Petersburg 1907 - Geneva 1989) - Oil on panel - signed and dated 1948 lower right - format 55 x 65 cm - original frame - network of cracks visible in the photos and a slight scratch. Eldest son of Igor Stravinsky and Catherine Nosenko, Théodore Strawinsky spent his early childhood in Russia. In 1910, his family settled in French-speaking Switzerland, first in Montreux then in Morges until 1920. The Strawinskys lived in France from then on and from 1935 in Paris. In 1927 his first exhibition took place in Paris. From then on, he never stopped exhibiting, alone or in groups, and his works, pictorial or monumental, can be found in many countries, both in Switzerland and in France, in the United States, in Italy, in Belgium, in Holland. or in England. For example, he is the author of stained glass windows in the Notre-Dame basilica in Geneva, the Sainte-Thérèse church, and a mural in the Sacré-Cœur church, also in Geneva. The Church of Christ the King in Friborg houses his creations as well as the Notre-Dame-de-Toute-Grâce church on the Assy plateau. The one he called his “master”, Georges Braque, followed the “terribly gifted” young man very closely, he told his parents. André Derain will teach him “the cooking” of the trade. On a more theoretical level, Théodore Strawinsky took André Lhote's classes from 1930 to 1932. Picasso limited himself to telling him: "Go to the Louvre and copy, copy" and "Never forget that white is the master of color. Théodore will never forget this. Stateless after the First World War, Théodore Strawinsky obtained Swiss nationality (bourgeois of Geneva) on April 10, 1956. In 1976, Théodore Strawinsky received the Arts-Sciences-Lettres silver medal awarded by the academic society Arts-Sciences-Lettres et in 1977 was promoted by Pope Paul VI to Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great for “services rendered to the church through his art”. The painter died on May 16, 1989 in Geneva. He is buried in the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, near Paris,