Oil on masonite encaustic painting by the well known Russian/American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Signed and dated top right, 1952. In good to very good condition. Provenance: Estate of Leonard Barton, the stepson of the artist. Presently unframed. A similar painting is illustrated in the Donal Goddard book on Tschacbasov. The illustrated version is called version #2, pp. 56. Tschacbasov was making the point with his small figures dwarfed in a giant landscape of the power of nature over man.
Nahum Tschacbasov was born in Baku in 1899 and came to the United States when he was a young boy when his family settled in Chicago. In his early 20’s he went to Paris where he studied under Georges Rouault and Fernand Leger. He later returned to New York and lived for over 50 years in the iconic Chelsea Hotel.
He exhibited and had one man shows at ACA Gallery, Perl’s Gallery and John Heller Gallery. His works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the Whitney Museum, the Brooklyn Museum. the Jewish Museum as well as numerous college and private collections.
In 2013 a retrospective of his work was put on by the Russian/American Foundation at the National Arts Club in New York City.