Yourievitch Serge

Biography of Yourievitch Serge ( 1876-1969 )

Sculptor of Russian origin, Serge Yourievitch was born in Paris in 1876 in a Belarusian noble family. He studied political science at the Imperial High School in St. Petersburg and politics in Paris where he became secretary and cultural attaché of the Russian Ambassador.  

After health concerns, Serge Yourievitch gradually abandoned his political missions to devote himself to sculpture. In 1903 he met the sculptor Auguste Rodin, with whom he studied and who greatly influenced his work. From 1909 to 1933, he exhibited his sculptures at the Salon des Independants in Paris.  

The artist made many busts, but also fountains for gardens. He carved a bust of Franklin Roosevelt and of the English poet Thomas Hardy. 

Dance was one of his favorite subjects. He sculpted many representations of Russian dancers like Sacha Lyo or Natasha Nattova. A bronze sculpture of the latter made in 1923 was exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and bought in 1924 by the City of Paris for the Petit Palais. Considered as the masterpiece of Serge Yourievitch, this work was the model for smaller sculptures in bronze. 

In the 1950s, Yourievitch was a professor at the Guildford School of Art. He also exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London but especially at the Art Institute of Chicago where he received a particularly favorable reception. 

Serge Yourievitch was appointed Officer of the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1913 and became a French citizen in 1933.