Boris Ender

Boris Ender was a leading artist from the first generation of the Russian avant-garde, who developed a biomorphic form of abstraction, in which he sought to depict a natural rhythm through the use of pulsating light spots. After the revolution in 1918, Ender joins PETROSVOMAS, the State Free Artistic Workshops (the former Academy of Arts). For a short period of time he attends lessons at Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin’s workshop and later continues his studies at Mikhail Matiushin’s workshop. He researched the connections between eyesight/vision and art production, creating a space for visual art he would term, “expanded vision.” These scientific papers and experiments lead to the development of landscape sketches and ‘cubist’ drawings, which were exhibited alongside his experiments at the Moscow Historical Museum in 1925 in an exhibition organized with Nikolai Suetin. Ender’s interest in perception and exhibition display lead him to redesign the display of the Tretyakov Gallery, and – collaboratively with his sister, Maria Ender – design the Soviet Pavilion for the 1937 and 1939 World Expositions in Paris and New York, respectively. Ender’s paintings can be found in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Museum Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.