Nadia (Nadezhda) Benois was born in St Petersburg, Russian Empire, into a prominent artistic dynasty in 1896, where she subsequently studied art under her uncle, Alexander Benois (an important art critic, painter and set designer), as well as at the New Artistic Studio and the State Free Artistic Studios. In 1920, following her marriage to Jona (Iona) von Ustinov, an English-German journalist and diplomat, Benois moved permanently to England, working as a painter and set designer, including for the Ballet Rambert company. She exhibited with many notable London galleries and her artworks are represented in a range of UK public collections.
Painter Nadia (Nadezhda) Benois was born on 17 May 1896 in St Petersburg, Russian Empire (now Russia) into the prominent Benois dynasty of French origin. Her father was Leonty Benois (1856-1928), a well-known architect and Dean of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1903–06, 1911–17). Her uncle was Alexander Benois, painter, art critic and stage designer, key member of Mir Iskusstva [The World of Art] group, co-editor of the journal of the same title, published in St Petersburg (1898–1904), and contributor to Sergei Diaghliev's Ballets Russes productions. Nadia Benois first started studying art under her uncle, and later, from 1914, was a student at the New Artistic Studio under painters Aleksandr Yakovlev (1887-1938) and Vasily Shukhaev (1887-1973). In 1918–20 she continued her education at the State Free Artistic Studios in Petrograd (the former St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts) under Shukhaev and Dmitry Kardovsky (1866-1943).
In 1920, Benois married Jona (Iona) von Ustinov, an English-German journalist and diplomat, with whom she moved to England later that year. They first settled in London, where in 1921 they had a son, Peter, who was, as Peter Ustinov, to become an esteemed British actor, filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and television presenter. Throughout the 1920s, Benois's husband worked as a press officer for the German Embassy in London. With the rise of Nazism in Germany, he joined MI5, and both he and Benois became British citizens, thus avoiding internment. Benois became known for her landscapes of London's streets and parks, of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy, as well as for her figurative paintings, still lifes, flower studies and interiors. In 1924, she held her first exhibition at the Little Art Rooms Gallery in London, where none of her works sold. Encouraged by her husband, however, Benois continued painting, gradually earning recognition. From 1929 onwards, she held several solo exhibitions at the established London-based gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons, her work receiving positive comments in the press. Country Life noted that Benois is ‘gifted with a sense of design, she is fully aware of every modern movement in art, but it is refreshing to find that she has escaped the danger of falling into the mannerism of a particular group […] The large painting La Madrague, with its wide, sun-lit bay is remarkably satisfying in its impressiveness’ (Country Life 1929, p. xxix). The Observer art critic Jan Gordon praised the artist’s ‘forceful drawings’ and the harmony of her subtle palette, adding that ‘There is not a picture in this exhibition that does not proclaim the artist’s joy in the act of creation, and an echo of that joy is almost inevitably awakened in the spectator […]’ (Gordon 1932, p. 14). She took part in the 1931 Exhibition of the Russian Group at the Prince Vladimir Galitzine Gallery in Mayfair. The Times commented that Benois’ ‘combination of liveliness and delicacy is well seen in the pastel Gerbe d’Or, while the oil painting Still Life shows her peculiarly attractive quality of pigment’. Benois also exhibited her paintings and pastels with a roster of distinguished London dealers, such as Agnew's, the Redfern Gallery, and Ernest Brown and Phillips (The Leicester Galleries), and participated in the New English Art Club (NEAC) exhibition in 1936.
From 1933 onwards, Benois became involved in theatre set design, creating several projects for the Ballet Rambert Company (currently Rambert), including one of the most successful English ballets produced before the war, Lady into Fox at the Mercury Theatre (Chamot 1943, p. 735). Benois was a set and costume designer for the 1937 production of Dark Elegies (Ballet Rambert) and the 1939 production of The Sleeping Beauty held at Sadler's Wells. In 1947 she designed the décor for the Ballets Russes' Graduation Ball with music by Strauss and choreography by David Lichine at Covent Garden. Benois was also set designer for several films and plays directed by her son Peter. In 1953 she had a solo exhibition at the prestigious Matthiesen Gallery in London, established by émigré Berlin art dealer, Francis Matthiesen.
Benois spent the last years of her life in the Cotswolds. Nadia Benois died at Eastleach, Gloucestershire, England on 8 February 1975. A posthumous exhibition was held in 1975 at the Michael Parkin Gallery in Belgravia (in conjunction with works by Claire Crossley and Nancy Tennant), and in 1976 her works were displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London as part of an exhibition dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the Ballet Rambert Company. Benois's works are held in multiple public collections, including the Arts Council Collection, Government Art Collection, Manchester Art Gallery and Tate.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Nadia Benois]
Publications related to [Nadia Benois] in the Ben Uri Library