Oil on paper, abstract painting; signed and attr. André Lanskoy (Russian 1902-1976), possibly painted in the 1960s; 30 x 39.5 inch (76.2 x 100.33 cm). ndré Lanskoy was one of the foremost abstract painters of the post-war École de Paris, and in the words of the influential critic Pierre Guéguen: “one of the greatest of all abstract paintersâ€. Born in Moscow in 1902 Lanskoy (André Michailovitch) was the son of a Count and reputedly one of Catherine the Great’s favourites. After 1942, he painted only abstract works.. The interaction of form and color became the major theme running through his oeuvre: "Even though every brushstroke represents for itself a transformed reality, it receives its true meaning in the context of surrounding shades of color." In 1944, Lanskoy exhibited at the Jeanne Bucher Gallery in Paris where he met Nicolas de Staël. In 1948, he showed at the Louis Carré Gallery and in 1951 at the Galerie Jacques Dubourg. The Tooth and Sons Gallery showed his work in 1953 and The Loeb Gallery in New York City followed in 1959. In 1962, he began to work on a large project of original prints and collages to accompany Nikolai Gogol’s novel Diary of a Madman. He worked for fourteen years until his death on this project resulting in 150 collages and 80 lithographs. In 1966 he had an exhibition at the Museé Galliéra, Paris. The Neue Galerie in Zürich held an exhibition in 1969. Lanskoy died on 24 August 1976 in Paris. The Aras Gallery collected the extensive Diary of a Madman series of prints and staged a major posthumous exhibition in 1989. PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario Estate

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American, 19th century : In our opinion, this work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).

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Apocryphal : Of doubtful authenticity.