Andriienko-Nechytailo, Mykhailo
[Andrijenko-Nečytajlo, Myxajlo] (known in France
as Michel Andreenko), b 29 December 1894 in
Odesa, d 12 November 1982 in Paris. Modernist
painter and stage designer. In 1912–17
Andriienko-Nechytailo studied with N. Rerikh, A.
Rylov, and I. Bilibin at the art school of the
Society for the
Promotion of the
Arts in Saint
Petersburg. In 1914–16 he exhibited the composition Black Dome
and his first cubist works in Saint Petersburg.
In 1914 he participated in an international
graphics exhibition in Leipzig. In 1917–24 he
devoted most of his time to designing stage sets
for various theaters—in Saint Petersburg, Odesa,
Prague, Paris, and for the Royal Opera in
Bucharest. In Paris, where he lived from 1923,
he also worked on sets for the films Casanova
and Sheherazade and continued to paint in
the cubist-constructivist style (eg,
Composition [1924],
Construction [1924], or
A Person [1926]). In the 1930s
Andriienko-Nechytailo produced a series of
surrealist paintings (eg,
A Fair Stall [1933]). He switched to
neorealism in the 1940s and painted a number of
portraits as well as a series the cityscapes
Disappearing Paris (such as
Rue Carpeaux [1946],
Rue Paul Barruel [1954],
Rue Cambronne [1954], and
Paysage du Cycle [1956]). From 1958
he returned to constructivism and abstraction.
Andriienko-Nechytailo's work is characterized by
a precision of composition that harmonizes
subtly with color. His stage sets are remarkable
for their laconic quality and architectural
schematism, and his costume designs, for their
richness. His paintings can be found in the City
Museum of Modern Art and the Arsenal Library in
Paris, the National Library in Vienna, the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the
Metropolitan Museum in New York, the
National Museum in Lviv, and Ukrainian émigré museums
and private art collections.
Andriienko-Nechytailo is also the author of
several short stories and articles on art.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sichyns’kyi, V. Andriienko (Lviv 1934)
Popovych, V. Mykhailo Andriienko (Munich
1969)
Marcadé, J.-Cl. and V. Andreenko
(Lausanne 1978)
M. Andriienko. Kataloh vystavky v
Ukraïns'komu instytuti modernoho mystetstva
(Chicago 1979)