Olga Sacharoff

Olga Sacahroff
Photograph of Olga Sacharoff taken in about 1939
Born	1889 Tbilisi, Georgia
Died	1967 Barcelona
Nationality	Spanish
Education	Tbilisi State Academy of Arts
Known for	Painting
Movement	Cubism, naive art, Surrealism
Awards	Medalla de oro de Barcelona

Olga Nicolaevna Sacharoff (May 28, 1889, Tbilisi, Georgia ‒ 1967, Barcelona) was a Spanish artist of Russo-Persian origin associated with naive art and the Surrealist movement.

Olga Sacharoff (also spelled Sakhorova, Zakharova, or Zacharoff) was born in Georgia, which at the time was a part of the Russian Empire. Her mother was of Persian origin. After studying at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, she visited Rome and traveled to Munich, where she came in contact with the German Expressionist movement. In Germany, she met her future husband, the photographer and painter Otho Lloyd.

Beginning in 1909, Sacharoff regularly visited Paris. By 1912, she and Lloyd had settled in the city and were married. She exhibited frequently, in solo as well as group shows, including the annual exhibitions organized by the Salon d'Automne. Initially, her work was influenced by Paul Cézanne; soon after her move to Paris, however, she became fascinated with radical or synthetique Cubism. Both Sacharoff and Lloyd became active members of the circle that formed around the Russian émigré avant-garde artist Marie Vassilieff.

The outbreak of World War I forced Sacharoff and Lloyd to relocate to Spain. The couple initially settled in Mallorca, but moved to Barcelona in 1915 or 1916. From 1917 to 1924, Sacharoff collaborated with Francis Picabia on the magazine 391, which is considered representative of Dadaism. Among those writers and artists appearing in the four issues of the magazine were Guillaume Apollinaire and Marie Laurencin. During this period, Sacharoff developed a colorful "naïve" style influenced by Henri Rousseau.