Evgenij Kleno was born in Denmark. His mother Anna Afanasievna Ivanoff was Russian. Kleno was a private pupil of Bizzie Hoyer from 1941-1946 and Pupil of Isaac Grünewald from 1943. He was later educated at the Royal academy of fine arts in 1948, where he was a pupil of Vilhelm Lundstrom and Olaf Rude. Kleno works are known for their powerful expressive brush movements mixed with bright lights and deep colors. He worked primarily with landscapes and still-lifes, but is also known for his portraits and nudes. Klenos was very inspired by his fellow modernists like Edvard Weie and Karl Isakson but quickly developed his own unique style which was a combination of Expressionism and Fauve. During the German Occupation of Denmark, Kleno fled to Sweden where he became a pupil of Isaac Grünewald. Kleno was married to the Greek modernist and author Velonia Dardano Koyai, whom he had meet on a journey to Greece. Kleno traveled and worked in Paris from 1949. During his time in Paris, Kleno met and befriended the artists Robert Jacobsen, Richard Mortensen, Asgar Jorn and Poliakoff.. They lived together at the Danish artists house in Paris and they also worked on several projects and had many successful combined exhibitions at Galerie Denise René in Paris. Kleno also worked in Italy from 1952 and Spain from 1955. Kleno later moved to France, where he had a residence in the village of Bervardière, Dordogne until his death in 2005. During his lifetime Kleno received the prestigious Koefoed award in 1961 and the Serdin Hansen Prize in 1985. A Book about the life and works of Kleno was published in 1998.
Exhibitions:
The Artists Fall Exhibition: 1947-1956.
Charlottenborg: 1966-1985.
Skive museum of fine arts: 1974.
Aarhus Exhibition: 1978.
Gallery Trygve Petersen: 1963.
The Free Exhibition: 1965-1969.
Gallery Henning Larsen: 1983.
Rubin & Magnussen: 1985.
Taarnby townhall: 1978.
Gallery Orbit: 1990
Øbro Art Gallery 