LEOPOLD SURNAGE
1879 - 1968
Is a Russian artist. In 1901, he entered the Moscow School of Fine Arts. The failure of the 1905 revolution, of which he was an active member, then the tsarist reprisals that followed, prompted him to leave Russia for Paris. While earning a living as a piano tuner, Léopold Survage, briefly attending the Académie d'Henri Matisse, became friends with Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, Pabo Picasso and Gino Severini. After taking part in the first “Valet de Carreau” exhibition organized by Larionov in Moscow in 1910, the artist exhibited regularly in the Parisian Salons. His painting testifies to the influence of Analytical Cubism, Léopold Surnage diverts it in a personal way, since unlike most artists of this movement who favor portraits and still lifes, he approaches the landscape. The work is composed of a juxtaposition of fragmented images of geometric shape, evoking the technique of collage, it thus introduces a reflection on time and space, as evidenced by the interplay of focusing the elements of the landscape. In 1963, Léopold Surnage was appointed officer of the Legion of Honour.