André Lanskoy

Collection of the Artist
Sotheby's New York, Modern and Contemporary Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, 6 October 1987, lot 105
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

The sheet is slightly buckled. The surface is a little dirty and might benefit from a light cleaning. There are small stains and scratches in some places, and there is a small fleck of pigment loss above the subject's right shoulder. There is a 2cm. tear along the upper left edge and there is a stamp imprinted to the lower right corner. Held in a gold painted wood frame with cloth slip and under glass. Unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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The son of a Russian count, Lanskoy grew up in St Petersburg, joined a Czarist regiment in the Revolution and spent time in Kiev and the Crimea before studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. In 1925 Wilhelm Ude had organised Lanskoy's first one-man show which featured expressionist pictures of figures, interiors and still lifes. Following this success he exhibited with other Russian émigré artists such as Delaunay, Survage and Zadkine, though it was arguably Sergei Sudeikin and Chaim Soutine who made the strongest impression on the young artist.

 

In the late 1930s Lanskoy gradually moved away from figurative painting; by 1943 he was concentrating exclusively on abstract colour harmonies. The present self-portrait is therefore a rare figurative depiction of the artist. The muted tones of this work recalls Braque and Picasso's palette (fig 1), though Lanskoy's other work shows equal virtuosity in the use of brilliant colour. His rich compositions translated easily into tapestries, and always intent on finding new modes of expression, he was also adept at illustration, collage and mosaic. Enchanted by Lanskoy's style, the painter Nicholas De Staël described it thus: 'as teeming as a virgin forest, as brilliant as a Russian ballet'. The mystery and drama his similes imply are incidentally appropriate to this picture; an indistinct female figure in the background triangulates the viewer, artist and onlooker and adds a certain tension to the composition.