Leon Gaspard (Russian-American, 1882–1964)

"Green-Roofed Church in Siberia"

Oil on canvasboard.

Signed Leon Gaspard lower right.

Dimensions: 10 3/4 × 8 3/4 in. (27.5 × 22.2 cm)

Framed: 14 1/2 × 12 1/2 in. (37 × 32 cm)

Provenance:

The Estate of Leon Gaspard, inventory no. C-2655, estate label on verso;

Maxwell Galleries / Maxwell Fine Paintings, San Francisco, label on verso, identifying the work as Green-Roofed Church in Siberia;

Arrowsmith-Fenn Galleries, Santa Fe, New Mexico, gallery stamp on verso.

Original estate and gallery labels, stamps, and inventory markings remain on the verso.

Leon Gaspard was a Russian-born American painter whose distinctive career bridged the artistic worlds of Imperial Russia, Paris, and the American Southwest. Born near Vitebsk in the Russian Empire, Gaspard received his early artistic training in Vitebsk under the noted painter and teacher Yuri Pen and subsequently studied at the Odessa Art School before continuing his education at the Académie Julian in Paris. He later immigrated to the United States and eventually settled in Taos, New Mexico, where he remained for much of his later career. 

Gaspard traveled extensively throughout Russia, Siberia, Central Asia, Europe, and the American Southwest. Russian and Siberian subjects remained an important part of his oeuvre throughout his career, and he became particularly known for colorful scenes of village life, traditional architecture, markets, festivals, and regional customs.

Green-Roofed Church in Siberia presents an intimate view of a traditional wooden church distinguished by its green roofs and onion domes. Small figures approaching the church animate the foreground, while Gaspard's loose, expressive brushwork and passages of blue, green, pink, and ochre give the composition a vivid, spontaneous quality characteristic of his Russian and Siberian subjects.

Condition: Very good condition.