The Y. Pen School in Vicebsk

Yuri (Yudel) Pen was born in a small town of Novo-Aleksandrovsk of the Kowno guberniya (now Zarasai, Lithunia). Upon graduation from St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, he went back for a short time to Novo-Aleksandrovsk, then moved to Dunaburg, lived in Riga. He then stayed for five years at the estate of baron Korf in Kreutzburg (now Jekabpils, Latvia) and finally from 1896 he settled in Vicebsk.

In November of 1897, he got a certificate allowing him to open a school of painting and drawing in Vicebsk. Classes were conducted in Y. Pen’s apartment. The school was attended by 10 to 25 students at a time. Official lists of students were not compiled, but the total number of Y. Pen’s pupils during forty years of his teaching activity reached 100. Yuri (Yehuda) Pen was the first teacher of a pleiad of recognized masters: Abel Pann (Pfeffermann), El Lissitzky, Solomon Yudovin, Oscar Miestchaninoff, David Yakerson, and Zair Azgur amongst others.

The most famous students of Y. Pen were Marc Chagall and Ossip Zadkine.

The October revolution was a crucial event for Y. Pen’s school. From 1919 to 1923, the artist was a teacher at the Vicebsk Art School set up by M. Chagall. During that period, artists like Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo, Lev Zevin, Ruvim Frumak and Salamon Gershov and many Unovis members passed through Y. Pen’s studio in the initial stages of their studies. At that time, Y. Pen painted ‘The Self-Portrait with Muse and Death”, one of his most profoundly philosophic and dramatic pictures. Until his tragic death in 1937, Y. Pen continued to work, participate in exhibitions, and to give lessons..

Y. Pen’s school had a great effect on the development of Belarusian and even world art.