Bykhovskii, Aleksandr Iakovlevich 

Aleksandr Iakovlevich Bykhovskii was a trained architect, a graphic artist, sculptor, and a set designer. Starting in 1901, he began his artistic studies with the noted icon painter, Kirill Gorbunov. Thereafter, Bykhovskii worked in the field of icon art but also took-on jobs in commercial design. Early in his career, the he joined an artist collective, and spent time working on design contracts in the Russian cities of Orenburg, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. From 1905 to 1907, he took part in the revolutionary movements in Odessa, Mogilev and Kiev.
In 1911, Bykhovskii had settled in St. Petersburg, and until 1912, he studied at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts but he did not complete the full term of courses. In 1913, the artist exhibited his works in Tashkent, Turkestan (Uzbekistan). That same year, he worked on filling private orders for the Kagan-Shabsay gallery in Moscow, a concern that was owned by art collector Yakov Kagan-Shabshay.

In 1918, Bykhovskii was living in Moscow. While serving as an illustrator for the People's Commissariat of Education, he supplemented his income by painting portraits and creating miniature paintings on glass. From 1919 to mid-1922, Bykhovskii lived in Gomel where he was in charge of the Fine Arts Section of a poster workshop. He also taught at the Mikhail Vrubel Studio (in Gomel) that was named in honor of the Imperial-era artist. During this era, he dedicated his talents to poster design. His 1920 work on "Red Alarm" (Krasnyi Rabat) was most likely a design commissioned by the newspaper of the same name. The poster was subsequently issued by the Political Department of the First Revolutionary Army of Labor / 3rd Red Army group.

By 1922, Bykhovskii returned to Moscow. That year, he held a solo exhibition inside the Gabima Theater. He later took part in Moscow exhibitions by the United Arts Group (OBIS). In 1926, he developed set designs for the film script "Wandering Stars" (Bluzhdaiushchie zvezdy) written by Issac Babel and based on a novel by Sholem Aleichem, the author and playwright. That same year, the first monograph of the artist ("A. Bykhovskii: Graphics") was released. It was written by Lev Vygotskii.