Teofil
Borisovich Fraerman

(March 14 (according to other sources) March 16, 1883, Berdychiv - January 7, 1957, Odessa) - Ukrainian artist, teacher. One of the organizers of the Odessa Society of Independent Artists.

Features of the work of Theophil Fraerman: in the Parisian period, Fraerman became interested in symbolism, impressionism, and later inherited the traditions of OST artists. Despite the widespread triumph of socialist realism, the artist did not make friends with him and by the end of his life he returned to the bright colors and decorativeism, to which his friend gravitated Henri Matisse.

Famous paintings by Theofil Fraerman: “Tailor”, “Road”, “Ivan the Terrible”.

Tevil Berilevich Fraerman was born in Berdichev; later the family moved to Odessa. A boy from 13 years old worked in a paint workshop, and on Sundays he attended courses at the Odessa Art College, which he entered in 1898. At the end of the school, his teacher,Kyriak Kostandi He advised the young man to continue his studies in Munich, at the Anton Ashbe Academy. After Fraerman went to Paris, where he settled on Montparnasse, in the famous "Hive". He earned his living in sculpture workshops, translating casts into marble - first with Aronson, later with Rodin. In 1905, Fraerman entered the Academy of Fine Arts, studied with Gabriel Ferrier and Leon Bonn. His paintings were first presented at the Autumn Salon in 1909 and were immediately purchased. Theo The Fra talent, as the artist signed his works, was highly appreciated, and a year later he became a permanent member of the Salon jury. Fraerman participated in the Salon of Independents and the Salon of Comedians, he was loved by the press, he was friends with Henri Matisse and Anatole France, and acquired his own workshop.

The First World War brought Fraerman to London, and three years later he was forced to return to Odessa - the artist’s mother fell seriously ill ... The October Revolution has not yet arrived in this southern city, but a conflict has emerged in the local art world: the newly formed Society of Independent Artists "Openly opposed the conservative Partnership of South Russian artists ... Needless to say, the friend of Henri Matisse, Fraerman joined the" Independent ". He was actively involved in the artistic life of Odessa, after the establishment of Soviet power, took part in the creation of a number of museums, including the Museum of Jewish Culture and the Museum of New Art. But Fraerman’s favorite brainchild was the People’s Art Museum, later transformed into the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. It was no longer Theo Fra, but Teofil Borisovich, Fraerman who became the first director of this museum, and lived here in an office apartment.

Since 1919, Teofil Fraerman began teaching at the Odessa Art Institute (since 1935 - the Odessa Art College). A year later, he headed the department of painting, received a professorship. Among his students are artists Eugene Kibrik, Joseph Gurvich, George Pavlyuk, Nikolay Sheluto, Oleg Sokolov. In 1928, Fraerman married Lydia Vladimirovna Pestryakova (1910 - 1981), a student of the sculpture department.

The principles of socialist realism did not fit in with the talents of Fraerman. The artist was accused of formalism, dismissed from the institute, but later still reinstated. During the Second World War, together with the Folk Art Museum, Fraerman went to evacuate to Ufa. He returned in 1944, bringing the collection to his native museum walls, which he did not leave until the end of his life. Fraerman got a job at the Odessa Civil Engineering Institute at the Faculty of Architecture. As the head of the department of drawing and graphics, the artist preferred not to show his paintings to the general public - in order to avoid attacks and new charges.

Theofil Borisovich remarkably possessed not only a brush, but also a word. He wrote the works “150 Years of Odessa Fine Art”, “Color in the Architecture of Ukraine”, a monograph dedicated to Kyriakou Kostandi.

Theofil Fraerman died in Odessa on January 7, 1957.