From imperial Russia to the Rome of the 1960s, the work of architect, painter and scenographer Andre Beloborodoff (1886-1965) expresses his unique vision of the history of modernity.
An enlightened Palladian, Beloborodoff designed palaces, chateaux and villas for Cafe Society patrons using modern construction techniques, such as reinforced concrete. The interior design of the Yusupov palace in Saint Petersburg, the Caulaincourt chateau in Picardy, and the Villa Pepoli for Maurice Sandoz in Rome - built at the same time as Le Corbusier's Cite radieuse - are witnesses to his timeless, stripped-down and refined classicism. He won the Prix de Rome in 1934, and subsequently spent many years living and working in Italy.
Many of his architectural ideals are found in his metaphysical and surrealist paintings and watercolors, highly praised by Paul Valery, Mario Praz, Henri de Regnier, and Jean-Louis Vaudoyer. His atmospheric vistas of sunken or vanished worlds recall the edifices that Beloborodoff, eternally rootless, was never able to build.
Text in French.
