Vladimir Polunin

Vladimir Polunin
Владимир Полунин
Born
Vladimir Jacolievitch Polunin

1880 (1880)
Moscow, Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire
Died11 March 1957(1957-03-11) (aged 76–77)
Godalming, Surrey, England, UK
Occupations
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1907; died 1950)​
Children4 including,

Vladimir Jacolievitch Polunin (Russian: Владимир Яковлевич Полунин; 1880 – 11 March 1957) was a Russian scenographer, set designer and educator.

Biography

Polunin was born in 1880 in Moscow, Moscow Governorate (present-day Moscow Oblast, Russia) to Yasha Akimovich Polunin and Olya Okorokova. Polunin was the youngest of five siblings. He earned a degree in forestry in St. Petersburg and later studied art in Munich and Paris, specializing in tempera and distemper painting. In 1908 Polunin and his wife moved to England and settled in London.

By 1914, Polunin was working with Boris Anisfeld on the designs for Vaslav Nijinsky's ill-fated season at the Palace Theatre. In 1918 he began working on the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, creating stage sets from artists' designs, and maintained and restored stage cloths. He eventually became Diaghilev's chief scene-painter. At this time, Pablo Picasso painted sets under his direction. In 1929, he founded the stage painting department at the Slade School of Fine Art, teaching there for 20 years.

Polunin's 1957 book Three Generations: Family Life in Russia, 1845–1902 was published posthumously.

Personal life

On 1 September 1908 (O.S.), Polunin married the artist and scenic designer Elizabeth Polunin (née Hart) in St. Petersburg. The couple had four children, the botanists Nicholas Polunin and Oleg Polunin, the physician Ivan Polunin, and the piano teacher Tanya Polunin.

Polunin died on 11 March 1957 in Godalming, Surrey.

Publication

Notes

  1. ↑ Also anglicised as Vladimir Yakovlevich Polunin.
  2. ↑ Also cited as Jakof Akimovich Polunin.
  3. ↑ Also cited as 1907.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Vladimir Polunin designer". Ben Uri Research Unit. Ben Uri Gallery & Museum. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  2. ↑ Polunin, Vladimir (1980) [First published 1927], Dust Jacket from The Continental Method of Scene Painting, London: Dance Books Ltd., ISBN 0903102579, retrieved 12 November 2024
  3. 1 2 3 "Vladimir Jakovlevich Polunin and Elizabeth Violet Hart [marriage record]". Russia, Select Marriages, 1793–1919 [database online]. 9: 7. 1908.
  4. 1 2 3 Polunin, Vladimir (1957). Three Generations: Family Life in Russia, 1845–1902. Translated by Birch-Jones, A.F. London: Leonard Hill.
  5. 1 2 "Mr. Vladimir Polunin". The Times (Obituary). No. 53792. London. 18 March 1957. p. 10.
  6. ↑ Haskell, Arnold, ed. (1958). The Ballet Annual : A Record and Year Book of the Ballet. Vol. 12. New York: The MacMillan Company. p. 149. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Polunin, Vladimir (1980) [First published 1927], Dust Jacket from The Continental Method of Scene Painting, London: Dance Books Ltd., ISBN 0903102579, retrieved 12 November 2024
  8. ↑ Haskell and Clarke, (p. 149); and Boston, (p. 73)
  9. ↑ Buckman, David (1998). Dictionary of artists in Britain since 1945. Art Dictionaries Ltd. p. 982. ISBN 0953260909. Retrieved 19 January 2026.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ↑ "History of Slade School of Fine Art". n.d. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  11. ↑ Zweigbergk, Britta von (2007). Tony's war: the life and times of a WW2 Typhoon pilot. Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Pu. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-84386-291-8.
  12. ↑ Kennedy, Maevy (10 November 2001). "Slade's School of Stage Design to Close". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  13. ↑ Westing, Arthur (16 December 1997). "Obituary: Nicholas Polunin". The Independent.
  14. ↑ Hattersley-Smith, G. (23 September 2004). "Polunin, Oleg Vladimirovitch (1914–1985), botanist and traveller". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68834. Retrieved 25 June 2026. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  15. ↑ "Wills and Bequests - Polunin, Mr. Vladimir". The Times (Death Notice). No. 53872. London. 20 June 1957. p. 12.
  16. ↑ The Continental Method of Scene Painting: Seven Years With the Diaghileff Company on WorldCat