Biography
Vsevolod Sergeevich Sozonov (b. St Petersburg, Russia 1899 - d. London, England UK 1966), whose father was a chemistry professor at the St Petersburg Women's Pedagogical Institute, and his mother was a doctor, left Russia after the 1917 revolution. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools, and he received a scholarship to continue his training in Paris and Venice. In 1929, he married Maria Marova, a successful Russian-born soprano opera singer, based in London's Chelsea. From 1930 to 1933 he showed with The London Group at the New Burlington Galleries. In 1931 his oil painting of St Paul’s Cathedral and a Landscape watercolour were purchased by Lord Howard de Walden for the Contemporary Art Society but their currrent whereabouts are unknown as they appear to have been bought back by him in 1932. In the same year Sozonov showed at the Goupil Gallery's Summer Exhibition and participated in the Exhibition of the Russian Group held at Prince Vladimir Galitzine's Gallery in Mayfair, London and again in 1933. In 1934, Sozonov held a major solo exhibition at The Redfern Gallery, London. 1935. J. B. Manson (1879-1945) purchased a Landscape, Portofino for the Contemporary Art Society in 1936 but its whereabouts is also now unknown. From 1924–39 Sozonov also exhibited at the Beaux Arts Gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons, and with the New English Art Club (NEAC). During the WW2, Sozonov moved to the USA, but returned to England shortly after the end of the war. During the 1950s and 1960s he took part in the Summer Exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts. He was a member of the Chelsea Arts Club and of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
