Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné
About
Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine (1888-1944)
Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine was a pioneering Russian-French avant-garde artist and inventor, born in Kherson, Ukraine. A prominent figure in the Cubo-Futurist movement, he distinguished himself through an extraordinary ability to synthesize visual art, sculpture, and musical innovation. His work represents a unique bridge between early 20th-century modernism and pioneering multimedia experimentation.
Best known for his revolutionary Optophonic Piano—an instrument that transformed sound into light—Baranoff-Rossine's creative vision extended far beyond traditional artistic boundaries. His work was exhibited in major European artistic centers, including Paris, Moscow, and Berlin, where he contributed significantly to the avant-garde movement alongside contemporaries such as Chagall and Kandinsky.
This digital archive presents a comprehensive collection of Baranoff-Rossine's work, from his early paintings and sculptures to his groundbreaking technological innovations. Explore his remarkable journey through the turbulent early decades of the 20th century, until his tragic death at Auschwitz in 1944.
We invite you to discover the depth and breadth of Baranoff-Rossine's artistic legacy through our extensive galleries, historical documentation, and scholarly resources. For inquiries and information please go to our contact us page.
Biographical notes
Born in 1888 at Kherson (Ukraine - Russia).
Studied at Odessa (1903), then at the Imperial Academie des Beaux Arts of Saint Petersbourg.
Exhibited with the groups Stephanos, Moscow 1907- 1908, " Le Maillon " (In Russian Zvieno), Kiev 1908 and Vienok-Stephanos, Saint Petersbourg, 1909.
Worked in Paris from 1910.
Exhibited at the Salon des Independants 1910 - 1914.
One-man exhibition in Kristiana (Oslo, Norway) in 1916, where he used his piano optophonic for the first time.
Returned to Russia after the February 1917 Revolution where he participated in the revolutionary Russian artistic activities:
Exhibition of the Bureau Artistique of N.E. Dobytchina, Petrograd, 1908; Le Monde de l'art: " Mir Iskousstva " Petrograd,1918, Exhibition in Moscow 1918, " Premiere exposition libre d'Etat des oeuvres d'art Palais des Arts (ex-Palais d'Hiver Petrograd) " 1919.
In 1918 Baranoff Rossine organised with a few pupils an art studio which he conducted in a room of the former Academie de Saint Petersbourg.
Exhibited at the " Erste Russische Kunstausstellung " gallery Van Dienan in Berlin in 1922.
Birth of his first son Eugène (Moscow 1920 died in 1997)
Married Pauline Boukour in 1924 (Pauline Cemionovna Boukour 1900 - 1979)
In 1924 he gave two concerts with his piano optophonique (with his wife Pauline Boukour), at the Meyerhold and Bolchoi theaters.
Left Russia in 1925 with his family.
Birth of his second son Michel (Paris 1928 died in 1935)
Gave a performance in 1928 with his piano optophonique at the Studio des Ursulines in Paris.
Birth of his only daughter Tatiana in 1934
Exhibited regularly at the Salon des Independants.Participed in Paris International Exhibition of 1937, the Realites Nouvelles Galerie Charpentier in 1939, and the " Exposition des Artistes musicalistes " Prefecture de Limoges, 1939.
Birth of his third son Dimitri (Paris 1942)
Wladimir Baranoff Rossine died in 1944.
1954: Retrospective exhibition at the Salon des Independants, Paris.
1954: Retrospective exhibition at Galerie Art Vivant, Paris.
1969: Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris, Russian avant-garde.
1970: Retrospective exhibition at the Galerie Jean Chauvelin, Paris.
1970: Retrospective exhibition at the Rutland Gallery London.
1972: Retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art Paris.
1983 :Retrospective Brusberg Gallery Berlin, " Bilder und Blätter 1904 - 1938 ", in collaboration with Berliner Festspielen.
1984: Baranoff Rossine Retrospective, Verneuil Saint Pères Gallery, Paris.
1988: Baranoff Rossine Retrospective, Bourgoin Gallery, Paris.
1995: Galerie Brusberg, Berlin " Haupt- und Nebenwege:Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné " Bilder und Blätter 1907-1938.