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To be sold at our Important Sale: Modern & Contemporary Art + Design & Watches 12 – 14 November 2024
Lot 542 André Lanskoy (Russia/France 1902‑1976). Composition abstraite. Signed Lanskoy lower left. Oil on canvas, 60 x 73 cm.
200.000 – 300.000 SEK
€ 18.000 – 26.000
The collection of Swedish artist Otte Sköld (1894‑1958), Stockholm.
Arna Sköld (1892‑1985), Stockholm.
Bukowskis, Stockholm, 24 April 2007, lot 269.
The collection of art dealer Kenneth Åberg (1943‑2012), Gothenburg,
acquired at the above sale.
Painter and printmaker André Lanskoy was born in Moscow but spent most of his life in France, where he moved in 1921. Upon his arrival in Paris, Lanskoy said: ”Literally in the first night I started to paint and I haven’t stopped since.” He studied painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the bursting city of Paris drew him to frequent visits to museums, art exhibitions and galleries. The works of James Ensor and Vincent van Gogh and their expressive brushstrokes and colour palette particularly fascinated him and in his early still lifes, interiors and landscapes this is highly noticeable. While living in Paris, Lanskoy developed close friendships with Serge Poliakoff, Jean-Michel Coulon and later Nicolas de Staël.
His early works were mainly figurative, as shown in his first group exhibition with Russian painters at La Licorne Gallery in Paris 1923. The important German collector and art dealer Wilhelm Uhde discovered Lanskoy at the Salon d’Automne in 1924 and started to collect his works. The following year, a solo exhibition was organized with the help of Uhde where numerous works were acquired by prominent museums and collectors. Together with other Russian artists living in Paris, such as Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Leopold Survage and Ossip Zadkine, Lanskoy continued to show his works and began to attract a larger crowd. In 1937, Lanskoy’s focus shifted from the figurative motifs towards a more abstract style and from 1942 he devoted himself completely to the abstract expressionism. The artist stated: ”Even though every brushstroke represents for itself a transformed reality, it receives its true meaning in the context of surrounding shades of color.” The following decades played a major part in Lanskoy’s life as he exhibited his works at a number of important galleries in Paris and abroad, such as the 1948 show at the Galerie Louis Carré in Paris, 1951 at the Galerie Jacques Dubourg, 1953 at The Tooth and Sons Gallery and 1959 at the Loeb Gallery in New York. Throughout his life, he continued to explore the interaction between colour and form. His bright abstract compositions are characterized by patterns and rhythm, inspired by the intriguing works of Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.
The abstract composition included in this sale is a stunning work that exemplifies the brilliant technique of André Lanskoy. The harmonious light pastel colours in pink, beige, turquoise, light blue and yellow are contrasted by the bright shining white fields and exaggerated by the bold black parts. These combinations result in a vibrant and dynamic composition boosted with an energetic approach that has become the essence of Lanskoy’s artistry. Through his close relations with Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet in Stockholm, where Lanskoy presented several solo-exhibitions, he became highly appreciated by the Swedish public. This painting was acquired by the Swedish artist Otte Sköld (1894-1958), who not only made a huge impact as a prominent Swedish artist himself, but also was a highly important teacher and Professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. From 1950 he was appointed Director of the National Museum in Sweden, with the clear assignment to create a special museum for the contemporary art. This resulted in the creation of the Moderna Museet in Stockholm that was inaugurated in May in 1958, only a few months before Otte Sköld sadly passed away at the age of 64. ■