“Gentleman with Fan and Gold Fish”

Beautiful, colorful and vibrant oil on canvas painting attributed to the well known Russian/American artist, Nahum Tschacbasov. Unsigned. Purchased directly from Leonard Barton, the grandson of Nahum Tschacbasov in 2011. Condition is very good. The painting is housed in a custom new gold gallery frame in fine condition. Overall framed measurements are 36 by 30 inches. Provenance: Leonard Barton, 2011.

Biography :
Russian-American artist Nahum Tschacbasov (1899-1984) is known for his cubo-surrealistic works which feature a strong psychological element. Some of his work bears a resemblance to work of another Russian-American artist--David Burliuk. He was somewhat of a late starter, moving to Paris in 1932 to study under Adolph Gottlieb, Marcel Gromaire and Fernand Leger. He had his first exhibition in Paris in 1934. He then returned to the US where he joined Rothko and Gottlieb at the Galery Seccession. He was one of the co-founders of The Ten, a group of social conscious abstract painters which included Rothko, Gottlieb, Joseph Solman and Ilya Bolotowsky, among others.

In 1944, he began to work at Stanley Hayter's Atelier 17, a center for surrealistic ideas. Between 1936 and 1943, he had five one-man exhibitions at the ACA Galleries and participated in five group shows. He also exhibited at the Whitney, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Knox Albright Museum, the Chicago Institute of Fine Art and Corcoran, among others. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Met, the Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum and the Jewish Museum.

Tschacbasov has been the subject of two recent retrospective at Fletcher Gallery, Woodstock, NY and by my own gallery, Arthur Kalaher Fine Art, Southampton, NY. He was the subject of a retrospective at the National Arts Club entitled: "Nahum Tscacbasov: A Retrospective” in 2013.