Alexander Roubtzoff was evidently an orientalist, but in the best possible way:  that in which his profound respect and humility merged in order to give birth to deeply human works. “Save the Orient’s old traditions from oblivion, those that are really beautiful.” Thus he wrote about his earnest yearnest in one of the pages of his journal, an ambition that persprires throughout his plentiful production. Avoiding the traps of the superfluous or the mindless following of the fashion of the time, Roubtzoff works reflect the experience of a man moved by the sheer reality he faced at any given moment. His need for merely witnessing the present never superseded the emotions he felt, and that was his strength as a painter.

Short biography of Roubtzoff

January 24, 1884: Born in Saint-Petersburg

1904: Enters Saint-Petersburg's Imperial Academy of Fine Arts

1912: Winner of the Great Prize of the Imperial Academy, he is granted a four year scholarship to help him travel

1914: Arrives in TUNIS, Tunisia, on the 1st of April

1924: Made senior officer of the Academy of Fine Arts

1924: Naturalized French. From then on, claims being: "French born in Russia."

1949: Dies in TUNIS on the 26th of November

All along his life, between 1899 and 1949, Roubtzoff kept travelling across Europe and North Africa. He spoke five languages: russian, french, arabic, spanish and italian.

His masters were :

* Jekaterina Alexandrovna WACHTER
* Ian Frantsevitch TZIONGLINSKY.
* KARDOWSKI

Portrait of Alexander Roubtzoff by Achille Frédéric.