Born in 1889 in Buguruslan. In 1900-1905 he studied at the Simbirsk Commercial School, became interested in painting. Called up for the army, deserted in 1912 and left for Berlin, then for Paris, where he enrolled in the Russian Academy of M. Vassilieva and the La Palette Academy. In 1914, when the war began, he left for Barcelona and became fascinated by the geometric patterns of Spanish azulejos. In 1919-1920 he joined the Dadaist movement, towards the end of the 1920s he became interested in the anthroposophy of R. Steiner. In the 1940s he turned to the theme of water, creating a series of monochrome paintings. In the 1950s and until the end of his life he continued to work on the principles of abstraction through music. Author of the novel Dolgolikov and numerous prose texts. Died in 1975.
