Born on 11 August 1884 in the family of a Jewish tradesman, Genin studied art in
Vilna (1898–1900) and in
Odessa (1900–1902). At the end of 1902 he moved to
Munich where for a couple of weeks he attended the school of
Anton Ažbe. In 1903, he moved to
Paris, where he lived in
La Ruche from 1905 to 1907. In Paris, he admired the art of
Puvis de Chavannes, and many notable early works of Genin (until 1914) bear his influence. In 1907, Genin returned to
Munich and began to work for the magazine
Jugend, where 40 of his illustrations were published. In 1912, he became one of the founding members of the artists group
Sema, and in 1913 became a member of the
Münchener neue Secession. The outbreak of the
First World War (1914–1918) was a disastrous turn for this rise in the German art scene, and during the war Genin was interned in Munich as citizen of a hostile state. After the war he moved to
Berlin. In 1919, Genin has acquired a small house in the fishing village of
Ascona in
Switzerland, where he subsequently spent several months each year. Genin wrote and illustrated a book about his impressions, which was published 1928. In 1929, Genin moved to
Paris. There, his artistic style developed further under the influence of
Fauvism and
Neo-primitivism. In 1936, Genin finally returned to the
USSR, with the intention of taking an active part in building up the new socialist society by painting
frescos on the walls of Moscow's new buildings. In March of that year, while Genin was already in Moscow, his first (and the last) American exhibition was held in
NYC at
Lilienfeld Galleries. In Moscow, his first major commission was a fresco for one of the pavilions at the
All-Union Agricultural Exhibition (VSKhV). However, in October 1938, the fresco was covered up, in line with the political processes which had gained strength in the USSR. His second major commission in Moscow was frescoes for the
Palace of Soviets, a commission which was terminated by the outbreak of the
Second World War. Genin committed suicide in August 1941, a few days after a devastating air raid by German bombers. == Monograph and catalogue-raisonné ==