Bidspirit auction | Granovsky Samuel (Chaim) ”Leopard” 1930s.

Granovsky Samuel (Chaim) ”Leopard” 1930s. Paper, sanguine, charcoal, wet brush. 50x64.5 cm . The author's signature is ”S. Granovsky” on the bottom left. -  The work of Samuel (Chaim) Granovsky ”Leopard” (1930s) is an expressive animalistic sheet in which the master accurately conveys both the grace and the hidden strength of a predator. The composition is based on a solid, elastic silhouette: the plastic of the body, the turn of the head and the tension of the paws are read as a single ”springy” gesture, creating a feeling of alert movement and inner energy. The combination of sanguine, charcoal and wet brush work gives the image a rich tonal depth. Warm ochre shades of sanguine simulate body weight, charcoal enhances contrasts and fixes characteristic accents, and soft blurs form an airy environment and picturesque integrity, bringing the graphic sheet closer to chamber painting. As a result, the image of the leopard does not sound like a naturalistic sketch, but as a complete artistic characteristic — temperamental, accurate and plastically convincing. Granovsky Samuel (Chaim) October 5, 1889 (Yekaterinoslav) 1942 (Paris (?). Painter, graphic artist, sculptor. Biographical information about the master is scarce. He studied at an art school in Odessa. In his youth, he settled in Paris, where he maintained close ties with many representatives of the ”Russian diaspora.” In the early 1920s, he became interested in Dadaist art. Collaborated in the Via group. In 1923, together with S. Delaunay and V. S. Barth, he designed the production of T. Tzara's play ”The Airy Heart”. He created a number of abstract sculptures, which he exhibited at the Salon of Independents. Among the Montparnasse bohemians, he was considered one of the most colorful and spiritual figures. According to the art critic M. Reinal, ”Granovsky's stuff... they don't remind us of the reality around us in any way... they are not in any way consistent with our ideas about existing objects, despite the fact that, by their constructive nature, they retain the same commonality with a ball or cube, like any object. Therefore, we have the right to ask ourselves whether his works are not the starting point for a renewed art that will eventually find its own aesthetic inherent in him...” In July 1942, the artist was arrested and sent to a concentration camp.