SERGE FÉRAT (1881-1958)
ÉLOGE DE LA MUSIQUE

Serge Férat (né Serguei Zhastrebzov) was a French-Russian artist. He was a close friend to the writer Guillaume Apollinaire, who inducted him into the Parisian creative community of the early twentieth century. Férat grew up outside of Moscow, the son of Russian nobility, and as a young man he studied at the School of Fine Art in Kiev before traveling around Europe with Yelena Zhadviga Mionteska. In 1901, the two settled in Paris, where Mionteska adopted the pseudonym Helène d'Oettingen. She opened the literary salon Boulevard Bertier, which soon became a hub for artists and writers. Férat met Pablo Picasso at the Boulevard Bertier, and Picasso in turn introduced him to Guillaume Apollinaire. Férat and Apollinaire quickly became fast friends; in fact, it was Apollinaire who suggested the name "Serge Férat" as an alias. Férat soon found himself surrounded by an entourage of painters and poets who were attracted, in part, to his ostentatious displays of wealth.