Vsevolod Sozonov was born in St Petersburg, Russian Empire (now Russia) in 1899, where he received his early art education. Leaving Soviet Russia following the revolution of October 1917, Sozonov travelled first to the Baltic, then to the Netherlands and finally to England, where he permanently settled; continuing his art studies at the Royal Academy Schools in London, he subsequently worked as a portraitist, still-life and landscape artist, exhibiting prolifically, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, prestigious commercial galleries, and with the New English Art Club and The London Group.
Painter Vsevolod Sozonov was born on 5 September 1899 in St Petersburg, Russian Empire (now Russia), where he grew up in a scientific household and received his preliminary art education until the age of 18. His father, Sergei Ivanovich Sozonov, was a chemistry professor at the St Petersburg Women's Pedagogical Institute, and his mother was a doctor.
Sozonov left Russia following the October 1917 revolution, travelling first to what is now Estonia, then to the Netherlands and finally to England, where he settled. He continued to pursue his artistic education at the Royal Academy Schools, where he studied for two years and, upon completing his course, he worked at a London commercial art studio. A scholarship from the Royal Academy Schools enabled him to further his training in Paris and Venice. In 1929, he married Maria Marova, a successful Russian-born soprano opera singer, based in London's Chelsea.
Sozonov worked primarily as a portraitist, still-life and landscape artist, initially producing landscapes of the old Russia and later, London views. From 1930 to 1933 he showed with The London Group at the New Burlington Galleries. In 1931 his oil painting of St. Paul’s Cathedral was purchased by the Contemporary Art Society. He also showed at the Goupil Galleries Salon where the works he contributed in 1931 were praised in The Spectator, which noted Sozonov’s increasing talent, especially as a watercolourist (Finchman 1931, p. 967). In the same year he participated in the Exhibition of the Russian Group held at Prince Vladimir Galitzine's Gallery in Mayfair, London, contributing London views and some still lifes. The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art commented: ‘The most notable pictures are some view of London by Mr. Sozonov. This artist has a sprightly style in tempera, and a talent for expressing essentials’ (Bury 1931, p. 506). Country Life also singled out Sozonov’s work and noted: ‘The best-known painters are Nadia Benois and Vladimir Polunin, but the work of Sozonov is, in this case, more important because more unexpected […] he paints London, and proves that even in the drab life of our streets there are elements of pattern and colour for those who have the eyes to see them. Red omnibuses passing behind St. Margaret’s make an excellent picture, the Horse Guard’s Parade seen from St James Park is still a better subject, and even the lions of Trafalgar Square assume a new dignity in his hands’ (M.C. 1931, p. xxxii). Two years later Sozonov exhibited at Galitzine's Gallery again, this time alongside Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister of the late Tsar Nicholas II. In 1934, Sozonov held a major solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, London. The Observer appreciated the artist’s sense of colour rather than the graphic qualities of his work, noting that ‘he is more satisfactory when he keeps aloof from linear precision an relies chiefly on chromatic values’ (The Observer 1934, p. 15). Among the first buyers of his paintings was Charles Aitken, third keeper (from 1911 onwards) and first director (1917–30) of the Tate Gallery in London. Sozonov became a naturalised a British subject in 1935. From 1924–39 he also exhibited at the Beaux-Arts Gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons, and with the New English Art Club (NEAC). In 1939 The Guardian art critic D.S. singled out his work Place de la Concorde at the Goupil Galleries and praised Sozonov’s ‘oily freedom’ (D.S. 1939, p. 13).
During the Second World War, Sozonov moved to the USA, but returned to England shortly after the end of the war. During the 1950s and 1960s he took part in several instalments of the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1957 his painting A Singer from Ghana, depicting a lady in black trousers taking a call in front of a red curtain, was singled out in the Stage (A.M. 1957, p. 10). The catalogues of the RA exhibitions contain references to a number of addresses that Sozonov lived in, highlighting a peripatetic life, moving from year to year within London. Sozonov was a member of the Chelsea Arts Club and of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Vsevolod Sozonov died in London, England in 1975. His work is not currently represented in UK public collections.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Vsevolod Sozonov]
Publications related to [Vsevolod Sozonov] in the Ben Uri Library