Léopold Survage
Le Cheval (The Horse) — Mid-Century Cubism
1953

Name: Le Cheval (The Horse) — Mid-Century Cubism
Brand: Léopold Survage
Price: 700 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Léopold Survage, 'Le Cheval' (The Horse), color etching, edition 60, 1953. Signed and numbered '46/60' in pencil. Initialed in the plate, lower right. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream BFK Rives, wove paper; the full sheet with wide margins (3 1/2 to 7 1/4 inches), in excellent condition. Published by Editions Empreinte, France, with the publisher’s blind stamp in the bottom left sheet corner. Image size 7 5/8 x 5 1/2 inches; sheet size 19 5/8 x 12 5/8 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Léopold Frédéric Léopoldowitsch Survage (1879 -1968) was a French painter, designer, and graphic artist of Finnish descent. From a young age, Survage was expected to enter the piano factory operated by his Finnish father but after a severe illness at the age of 22, he rethought his career and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Introduced to the modernist art movements he was drawn to the Russian avant-garde and, by 1906, was loosely affiliated with the circle of the magazine ‘Zolotoye runo’ (Golden fleece). He met Alexander Archipenko, exhibiting with him in the company of David Burlyuk, Vladimir Burlyuk, Mikhail Larionov, and Natalia Goncharova. He traveled to Western Europe With Hélène Moniuschko, who later became his wife, visiting Paris in July 1908. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Survage worked as a piano tuner and briefly attended the short-lived school run by Henri Matisse. He exhibited with the ‘Jack of Diamonds’ group in Moscow in 1910 and first showed his work in France (at the urging of Archipenko) in the Salon d'Automne of 1911. In 1913, Survage created abstract compositions using color and movement with the intention of evoking a musical resonance. Entitled Rythmes colorés, he planned to animate these illustrations in film to produce "symphonies en couleur". He visualized these abstract images as flowing integrations but he exhibited the ink wash drawings as individual works at the Salon d'Automne in 1913 and Salon des Indépendants in 1914. Articles on these works were published by Guillaume Apollinaire (Paris-J., July 1914) and Survage himself (Soirées Paris, July–August 1914). In June 1914, in order to develop his idea, Survage unsuccessfully applied for a patent to the Gaumont Film Company. Had he been able to raise the funds, he would have preceded Viking Eggeling and Hans Richter as the first artist to develop abstract films. Beginning in 1917, Survage shared a studio with Amedeo Modigliani in Paris. He later moved to Nice and, over the next eight years, produced highly structured oils and works on paper linked by a series of leitmotifs, repeating groups of symbolic elements—man, sea, building, flower, window, curtain, bird—as if they were protagonists in a series of moving images. By 1922, Survage had begun to move away from Cubism in favor of neo-classical forms. He received commissions for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, beginning with sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky's opera buffa Mavra at the Paris Opéra in 1922. Although mainly a painter, he also produced stage, tapestry, and textile designs during this period (notably for the house of Chanel in 1933). Toward the end of the 1930s, Survage became increasingly concerned with incorporating mystical symbolism in his work. With this esoteric focus, the curvilinear forms that had dominated his compositions returned to the geometric structure and Cubist vernacular that had informed his earlier works. In 1963 Survage was named Officer of the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest distinction which is awarded in recognition of either military or civilian merit. Survage’s innovative works are held in museums worldwide including the Art Institute of Chicago, Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), Museum of Modern Art (New York), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), and the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris).

Creator:

Léopold Survage (1879-1968)

Creation Year:

1953

Dimensions:

Height: 7.63 in (19.39 cm)Diameter: 5.5 in (13.97 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Surrealist

Period:

1950-1959

Condition:

Gallery Location:

Myrtle Beach, SC

Reference Number:

Seller: 1032361stDibs: LU53237692802

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Léopold Survage

At a young age, Léopold Survage was directed to enter the piano factory operated by his Finnish father. He learned to play piano and then completed a commercial diploma in 1897. After a severe illness at the age of 22, Survage rethought his career and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Introduced to the modern movement through the collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, he cast his lot with the Russian avant-garde and, by 1906, was loosely affiliated with the circle of the magazine Zolotoye runo. He met Alexander Archipenko, exhibiting with him in the company of David Burlyuk, Vladimir Burlyuk, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova.

With Hélène Moniuschko, later his wife, he traveled to Western Europe, visiting Paris in July 1908. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Survage worked as a piano tuner and briefly attended the short-lived school run by Henri Matisse. He exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds group in Moscow in 1910 and first showed his work in France at the urging of Archipenko in the Salon d'Automne of 1911. In 1913, Survage produced abstract compositions using color and movement to evoke a type of musical sensation. Entitled Rythmes colorés, he planned to animate these illustrations using film to form "symphonies en couleur". He saw these abstract images as flowing together, but he exhibited the ink wash drawings separately at the Salon d'Automne in 1913 and Salon des Indépendants in 1914. Articles on these works were published by Guillaume Apollinaire (Paris-J., July 1914) and Survage himself (Soirées Paris, July–August 1914).

In June 1914, to develop his idea, Survage unsuccessfully applied for a patent to the Gaumont Film Company. Had he been able to raise the funds, he would have preceded Viking Eggeling and Hans Richter as the first to develop abstract films. Beginning in 1917, Survage shared a studio and a penchant for alcoholic excesses with Amedeo Modigliani in Paris. Survage later moved to Nice and, over the next eight years, produced highly structured oils and works on paper linked together by a series of leitmotifs, repeating groups of symbolic elements—man, sea, building, flower, window, curtain, bird as if they were protagonists in a series of moving images. The influence may have been Marc Chagall's, an artist well known for his insertions of floating couples, cows, roosters, and sundry Jewish iconography. By 1922, Survage had begun to move away from Cubism in favor of the neo-classical form. He was perhaps influenced by commissions for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, beginning with sets and costumes for Igor Stravinsky's opera buffa Mavra at the Paris Opéra in 1922. Although mainly a painter, he also produced stage, tapestry, and textile designs during this period (notably for the house of Chanel in 1933). Toward the end of the 1930s, as a result of his contact with André Masson, Survage became increasingly charmed by symbols and mysticism. The curvilinear forms that had previously dominated his compositions came, once again, under the control of the geometric structure. Survage was inducted into France's Légion d'Honneur in 1963. He died on 31 October 1968 in Paris.