Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova (1881–1962) was a pioneering Russian avant-garde artist whose work seamlessly blended traditional folk motifs with radical modernist techniques. Born near Moscow, she studied at the Moscow School of Painting before partnering with Mikhail Larionov to lead the neo-primitivist movement, celebrating the flat colors, bold outlines, and decorative patterns of peasant art. In 1909, Goncharova co-founded the Jack of Diamonds group, challenging academic conventions and introducing European post-Impressionist and Fauvist influences to Russia. By 1912, she and Larionov had invented Rayonism, an abstract style emphasizing intersecting rays of light, cementing her status as an innovator in early abstraction. Goncharova’s talents extended to stage and costume design for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, where her vibrant sets and costumes for productions such as The Golden Cockerel brought avant-garde art to the theater. Forced into exile by war and revolution, she spent her later career in Paris, producing paintings, illustrations, and theatrical designs that reflected urban modernity while retaining her signature folkloric energy. During her lifetime, she exhibited widely across Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, gaining both acclaim and controversy. In exile, she befriended Picasso and Braque, further enriching her style. Her later work explored gouache and collage, with a more muted palette yet always decorative. Retrospectives at major museums have posthumously recognized her role in 20th-century art, inspiring generations to integrate cultural heritage with avant-garde innovation.