Staritsky Anna

Anna Staritsky was a Russian (Belgian, French) artist, born in Poltava/Russia in 1908 and died in Paris/France in 1981. She was a painter, draftsman, graphic artist, collage designer and illustrator. From the age of fourteen she took lessons in studios in Moscow, including under the guidance of Tatiana Tolstoy. In 1925 she left Russia. She received further training in painting and graphics at the academy in Sofia/Bulgaria, after which she studied graphics at Ter Kameren in Brussels/Belgium under the guidance of Joris Minne. From 1932 to 1945 she lived in Belgium and then settled in France, where she completed an internship in lithography in 1946. Anna Staritsky was the wife of the Belgian artist Guillaume Hoorickx (Bill Orix). She initially created landscapes, flowers and still lifes. In the 1930s she gradually evolved from powerful expressionism to abstraction. In the years 1952-1953 she came into contact with avant-garde groups in Paris. There she became acquainted with the circle around M. Seuphor and the groups Espaces and Réalités Nouvelles. Her graphic work often served as illustration for luxury publications and texts by, among others, Butor and Seuphor. About her abstract work: “No fixed shapes, but movement of shapes; no fixed, defined contours, but mobile keys captured in the paint paste.” Anna Staritsky is mentioned in BAS II and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (Piron, BT)