Angelina Beloff was a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n painter and sculptor, who worked predominantly in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Biography

Beloff originally decided to study pediatrics

Pediatrics

Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...

, but then she matriculated to St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1904, where she studied until 1909. Afterwards she visited Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...

's academy in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and later Hermen Anglada Camarasa's academy, where she metMaría Gutiérrez Blanchard, a cousin of Germán Cueto

Germán Cueto

Germán Gutiérrez Cueto was a Mexican painter, sculptor, puppet designer and puppeteer. He joined the Academia de Artes in 1968 and belonged to the founding members.- Biography :...

. Additionally she studied wood and stone sculpture

Stone sculpture

Stone sculpture is the result of forming 3-dimensional visually interesting objects from stone.Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself, beginning perhaps with incised images on cave walls. Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as the Venus of...

. In 1909 she also met Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera

Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...

 in Belgium, whom she married two years later. They had a son named Diego, who died at the age of 14 months in 1917, during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. At this time Rivera had also an affair with Marie Vorobieff

Marie Vorobieff

Marie Bronislava Vorobieff-Stebelska , also known as Marevna, was a Russian-born Cubist painter. She is internationally known for convincingly combining elements of cubism with pointillism and – through the use of the Golden Ratio for laying out paintings – structure. She tends to be accredited...

, a Russian painter also known as "Marevna". With her he had a daughter named Marika

Marika Rivera

Marika Rivera was a French film actress and dancer.She was born in Paris, the non-marital daughter of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera and his mistress, the Russian-born painter Marie Vorobieff-Stebelska . Rivera, who was married to Angelina Beloff, did not accept his daughter...

, whom he did not accept. In spite of this circumstance, the marriage lasted twelve years, until Rivera returned to Mexico for good in 1921. The terms of the divorce required Rivera to give Beloff alimony, which he never did. Eleven years later, Beloff finally had enough money to look for Rivera in Mexico, but he had remarried twice by that time. Rivera denied that he was in a relationship with Beloff, and dismissed her from his life. This fate inspired Elena Poniatowska

Elena Poniatowska

Elena Poniatowska is a Mexican journalist and author. Her generation of writers include Carlos Fuentes‎, José Emilio Pacheco and Carlos Monsiváis.-Life:Poniatowska was born in Paris to Prince Jean Joseph Evremont Sperry Poniatowski and Paula Amor Yturbe...

 to publish a series of fictive letters of Beloff, titled "Querido Diego" (dear Diego).

Beloff by herself earned money by instructing courses of sculpture. She was member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios

Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios

The Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios was a Mexican association of revolutionary artists and writers. It was established in the house of its first president Leopoldo Méndez in 1933 in due to the disbanded "Sindicato de Trabajadores Técnicos, Pintores y Escultores" , and was defined as...

, and co-founder of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana

The Salón de la Plástica Mexicana is an art museum of plastic arts, which was founded by a group of notable artists on November 16, 1949. Today the SPM is located in the Calle de Colima 196 in the Colonia Roma and in the Donceles 99 in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City...

in 1949.

External links

• Angelina Beloff at Museo Andrés Blaisten