Essen Benita Nikolaevna

Essen Benita Nikolaevna

(Elsbeth Elena Benita von Essen) 1893, Reval, Es tland Province – 1974, Leningrad

Painter, graphic artist. Wife of the artist Alexander Lappo-Danilevsky. Studied at art studios in Penza (?), Paris, Moscow and Petrograd (1911– 1918); at the private studio of Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, State Free Art Studios in Petrograd (1918, 1920–1922); attended Mikhail Matiushin’s private art workshop, State Free Art Studios in Petrograd (23 March 1921 – 19 August 1921). Diploma work Fairy Tale (1922, private collection). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1920). Contributed to the Exhibition of Paintings by Petrograd Artists Over Five Years. 1918–1923 (1923), city-wide exhibition of fine arts (1930).

Worked for Proletkult (Proletarian Culture) federation of local cultural societies (from 1918). Decorated Petrograd on the October Revolution anniversary (1918). Worked at the Experimental Lithography Workshop in Leningrad. Taught at school No. 17 of the Sverdlov District, Leningrad. Grave illness prevented her from taking part in art life (1952).