Alexandra Korsakoff-Galston

Alexandra Korsakoff-Galston was a painter and craftsperson. She was born in Simferopol in Russian Crimea in 1884. A distant relative of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakoff (also spelled Rimsky-Korsakov), Korsakoff-Glaston showed artistic promise at a young age and was trained in art at the Moscow Academy of Art and the Leningrad Academy.

The young artist left Russia with her family in 1911 and moved to Germany, where she entered a period of artistic growth. She continued her art education at the Munich School of Arts and Crafts, and studied privately with the renowned German artists Paul Klee and Albert Weisgerber. Galston’s activities in Germany culminated in her work being exhibited at the Leipzig Trade Fair in 1924, in which she won first prize in batik.

Korsakoff-Galston moved to St. Louis in 1928 with her husband, the concert pianist Gottfried Galston. She quickly became active in the St. Louis Art community. She was a member of the honorary arts fraternity Shikari along with several other prominent St. Louis women artists, and was a member and frequent exhibitor with a number of St. Louis artists’ organizations.

Reflecting her cultural background, Korsakoff-Galston specialized in Russian folk art and most often depicted religious figures and saints, particularly Saint Nicholas. 

She worked in a variety of media, including metalwork, jewelry and enamels; however, she is perhaps most recognized for her work in batik, a method of wax-resist textile dyeing. She was so accomplished in the technique that she taught the first course in batik at Saint Louis University. 

Despite the often idyllic nature of folk art, Korsakoff-Galston’s life and work was also influenced by war and conflict. During World War II, she applied her metalworking skills to soldering parts at Ameritorp Corp., a St. Louis torpedo manufacturer. In the 1960s, her focus shifted to the war in Vietnam, including an exhibition of pastels depicting impressions of the war at the Spanish Pavilion in St. Louis in 1969. 

Korsakoff-Galston established her private studio, the Blue Stair Studio, in 1947, where she hosted exhibitions and taught private lessons. She moved from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., in 1969, and died in an automobile accident that same year.