André LANSKOY (1902-1976) - Lot 91

André LANSKOY (1902-1976) The Pink Steps, circa 1968 Oil on canvas Signed lower right 73 x 59 cm André Lanskoy, born March 5, 1903 in Moscow and died August 22, 1976 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, was a Franco-Russian painter and lithographer of the New School of Paris. "A violent, lustful, tumultuous and barbaric art, born of the heart of the old Et sainte Russie" wrote Jean Grenier of André Lanskoy's work. In 1921, André LANSKOY left Russia to settle in Paris after a trip to Constantinople. He moved into a Parisian hostel in the Montparnasse district, which was popular with the wave of Russian immigrants arriving in France at the time. He trained at the Académie de la Grande-Chaumière, where he befriended Soutine. By 1923, André LANSKOY was showing his work at the Galerie La Licorne alongside other Russian artists such as Sonia and Robert DELAUNAY and ZADKINE. From 1938 onwards, a gradual change took place, as the artist shifted towards a more abstract vision of reality. André LANSKOY began to question color, then the construction of forms, culminating in their total disintegration. "A stain placed on the canvas seeks to take on a form and struggles with other forms already placed on the same canvas. The outcome of this struggle is the birth of the painting". A. Lanskoy