The Pink Room: An Artist's Abode, Circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse Oil on Board on Canvas

1920 - 1940

Sold by Skippings Fine Arts

Description

A simple, sparsely furnished room bathed in soft light. Painted in the soft, dusty pink, blue and turquoise tones so typical for the 1930s, it is a simple, elegant composition... and what makes it even nicer is that, one suspects, Robert Pikelny was not the tidiest of young men (takes one to know one!). The pictures are hanging a little crooked, and there is, frankly, a bit of a mess on the chair.

Robert Pikelny was born to a Jewish family in Lodz, Poland in 1904. In 1908, the family moved to Moscow, where young Pikelny would study at the Moscow Academy of Fine Art.

Like many a ambitious young artist in the early 20th century, Pikelny strove to move to Paris, the undisputed Capital of the Arts at the time.

He settled in the atelier next door to his friend Jean Pougny's, on the Rue du Moulin de Beurre in Montparnasse in 1927. Pikelny delighted in painting circus and dance subjects as well as interiors, such as the one presented here, with an intimist feel.

He took part in many group exhibitions, particularly at the Salon d'Automne, where he began exhibiting in 1930.

Pougny presented Pikelny to the Russian Artists Society, of which Païles, Kikoïne and Pougny himself were members. Lazare Volovick, Vladimir Naïditch and Ossip Lubitch were in his circle, as well as the art collector André Fize, who became a patron.

Through fellow artist Henri Hayden met Samuel Beckett, who became an admirer of his art and a close friend. It may have been thanks to Beckett's influence that Pikelny was invited to exhibit at the Revel Gallery in the Burlington Arcade in London. Beckett even took the trouble to write to Herbert Read about the artist!

Our painting by Pikelny is an oil on thin board mounted on to canvas. Measuring 73 x 50 cm, it is signed at the lower right. The overall framed size is 85 x 62 cm

Physical Dimensions

Height

73cm (28.74")

Width

50cm (19.69")

Depth

1cm (0.39")

Declaration

Skippings Fine Arts has dated this piece to the 1930s.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA913377

Dealers Notes

Nous parlons français, und wir sprechen auch Deutsch! Paintings may be viewed in Norwich and in Paris, as well as in London and Cambridge by appointment. Please contact us if you would like further details and images of an artwork.

Description

A simple, sparsely furnished room bathed in soft light.

“

Painted in the soft, dusty pink, blue and turquoise tones so typical for the 1930s, it is a simple, elegant composition.

Skippings Fine Arts

.. and what makes it even nicer is that, one suspects, Robert Pikelny was not the tidiest of young men (takes one to know one!). The pictures are hanging a little crooked, and there is, frankly, a bit of a mess on the chair.

fig 1. The pink room: an artist's abode, circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse oil on board on canvas — fig 1. The Pink Room: An Artist's Abode, Circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse Oil on Board on Canvas

Robert Pikelny was born to a Jewish family in Lodz, Poland in 1904. In 1908, the family moved to Moscow, where young Pikelny would study at the Moscow Academy of Fine Art.

Like many a ambitious young artist in the early 20th century, Pikelny strove to move to Paris, the undisputed Capital of the Arts at the time.

fig 2. The pink room: an artist's abode, circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse oil on board on canvas — fig 2. The Pink Room: An Artist's Abode, Circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse Oil on Board on Canvas

He settled in the atelier next door to his friend Jean Pougny's, on the Rue du Moulin de Beurre in Montparnasse in 1927. Pikelny delighted in painting circus and dance subjects as well as interiors, such as the one presented here, with an intimist feel.

fig 3. The pink room: an artist's abode, circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse oil on board on canvas — fig 3. The Pink Room: An Artist's Abode, Circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse Oil on Board on Canvas

He took part in many group exhibitions, particularly at the Salon d'Automne, where he began exhibiting in 1930.

Pougny presented Pikelny to the Russian Artists Society, of which Païles, Kikoïne and Pougny himself were members. Lazare Volovick, Vladimir Naïditch and Ossip Lubitch were in his circle, as well as the art collector André Fize, who became a patron.

fig 4. The pink room: an artist's abode, circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse oil on board on canvas — fig 4. The Pink Room: An Artist's Abode, Circa 1935 Jewish School of Paris Montparnasse Oil on Board on Canvas

Through fellow artist Henri Hayden met Samuel Beckett, who became an admirer of his art and a close friend. It may have been thanks to Beckett's influence that Pikelny was invited to exhibit at the Revel Gallery in the Burlington Arcade in London. Beckett even took the trouble to write to Herbert Read about the artist!

Our painting by Pikelny is an oil on thin board mounted on to canvas. Measuring 73 x 50 cm, it is signed at the lower right. The overall framed size is 85 x 62 cm