Igor Snegur (Russian, b. 1935) Geometrical Landscape I, 1979

Watercolor on paper

Signed and dated lower right.

Also, titled and dated on verso 

Image size: 33 x 23 in. (83.8 x 58.4 cm)

Executed in 1979, this early abstract watercolor exemplifies Igor Snegur's exploration of geometric space and lyrical abstraction during one of the most important periods of Soviet Nonconformist Art. Constructed through translucent planes, dynamic linear structures, and concentrated black forms, the composition transforms the traditional notion of landscape into a sophisticated study of space, movement, and visual energy.

A significant figure of the Moscow Nonconformist movement, Snegur began exhibiting in the late 1950s and participated in some of the earliest exhibitions of abstract art in Moscow. He was closely associated with the influential New Reality Studio of Ely Belyutin and belonged to the generation of artists whose work challenged the restrictions of official Soviet art. Following the historic 1962 exhibition at the Manege, where Soviet avant-garde and abstract artists came under public criticism, Snegur continued to develop an independent artistic language outside the framework of Socialist Realism.

By the 1970s, he had emerged as one of the leading representatives of the Second Russian Avant-Garde. He later became a founding member of the renowned group "20 Moscow Artists" and, in 1988, established one of the first private galleries in the Soviet Union. His works are held in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, and numerous private collections throughout Europe and the United States.

Provenance: Zalman Gallery, New York (gallery label verso).

Condition: very good original condition, framed and glazed.