Sergei Ivanov was born in Moscow on December 25th, 1893. From early childhood he drew from nature and was interested in anatomical studies. In 1917, he studied at the Academy of Arts in Petrograd and after graduation in 1922, he went to Paris.
There he won fame as a magazine illustrator and brilliant portraitist. He traveled extensively in Italy, Belgium, Holland and Denmark and visited Brazil.
In 1930, Ivanov began a 20-year relationship with the Paris magazine "Illustration", publishing travel sketches, views of cathedrals and fashion illustrations.
In 1937 and 1938, the magazine Plaisirs de France published his drawings of creations of Jean Patou, Schiaparelli, Lanvin, Molyneux and Rochas.
In 1939, van Cleef and Arpels, the jewelers, hired him to do their advertisements in French Vogue.
He was also a marvelous portraitist. He painted the highest clergy of the Catholic Church including Pope Pius XI and many Bishops. He also painted the Russian nobility.
In 1950, Ivanov moved to the United States. He worked from there, as well as traveling to Brazil and Argentina. Back in France in the 60's, he frequently exhibited his paintings and in 1966 received a gold medal from Andre Malraux, French Minister of Culture.
He died on February 8th, 1983 at the age of 89, in his Paris studio, with a brush in his hand.