ANDRÉ

LANSKOY

(1902-1976)

COMPOSITION IN BLACK

1965

Oil on canvas

120х86 cm

André Lanskoy left Russia in 1920, with the retreating White Army. In 1921, he reached Paris where he lived till his death. He was established as an artist under the influence of his teachers – Sergey Sudeikin and Aleksandra Ekster. Lanskoy was a permanent participant of Paris-based Salons: d'Automne, Tuileries, May, New Realities.

His early creative work is distinguished by the primitive interpretation of the plot, coupled with bright colors and compact texture. In the 1930’s, inspired by the ideas of Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, Lanskoy gradually shifted from objective art to abstract art, and the color becomes the main object in his works. Thanks to the surprising colors and rhythm of his painting, the artist is called the “color-light creator”. Besides painting, André Lanskoy created collages, mosaics, carpet designs, and illustrated books. His book projects include the Cortègeby Pierre Lecuire (1959), Diary of a Madman by Nikolay Gogol (not finished), The Book of Being (1966).

30 years after the artist’s death, his art was finally displayed in Russia: in 2006, retrospective exhibitions of Lanskoy works were held in A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Russian Museum.