Leonid Lamm

Traduire // translate Leonid LAMM (né en 1928) Apple II (Seventh Heaven Series), 1974-1986 Huile sur toile, monogrammée et datée 74-86 en bas à gauche 104 x 104 cm - 41 x 41 in. Oil on canvas, signed with initials and dated 74-86 lower left Expositions : Los Angeles, Richard/Bennet Gallery, « Leonid Lamm: Seventh Heaven » 1987 Baltimore, Evergreen Fine Art Museum, The John Hopkins University, « From Drama to Carnival », 1994 New York, Hall Broom Gallery, « Four Russian Messages », 1994 New Canaan, CT, Silvermine Art Center, « Leonid Lamm: Retrospective », 2001

* § LAMM, LEONID B. 1928 Madonna and Child signed with initials and dated 1992-1993 Oil on canvas, black ink and gold leaf on board, 102 by 81.5 cm. Provenance : Acquired by the present owner directly from the artist's family. Private collection, USA. The work will be included in the artist's monograph From Utopia to Virtuality 1946-2008 .

Leonid Lamm Russian, b. 1928 Untitled , 1974 Initialed and dated 1974 (ll) Watercolor, pen and ink on paper 16 1/2 x 11 3/4 inches Estimate $1,200-1,800 Paper appears to be laid down to backing. Minor wear along theedges. Thumbprint smudge at lower left. Slight abrasion to thepaper at right center edge. Overall good condition.

measurements 52 by 78 in. alternate measurements 132 by 198.5 cm signed with artist's initials L.L. and dated 87 (lower right); signed Leonid Lamm , titled Before the Mirror and dated 1987 (on the reverse); also inscribed Lamm 007 (across the stretcher) mixed media on canvas EXHIBITED New York, Marryane McCarthy Fine Arts, Images of the Mystery , 1988 New York, Edward Nakhamkin Fine Arts Gallery, Russian Art: The 1980's , 1989 New York, Stuart Levy Fine Art, Old Symbols, New Icons , 1993 Rye, New York, The Rye Arts Center, From Chaos to Creation: Russian Art 1972-1992 , 1993 West Hartford, Connecticut, Chase Freedman Gallery, Meaning as Second Language , 1994 New Canaan, Connecticut, Silvermine Art Center, Retrospective , 2001 LITERATURE AND REFERENCES Daniaele Pieroni, "Leonid Lamm: un ironico Teseo russi", Arte e Cultura , Next, anno VIII, no. 24/25, pp.36-37 Chase Freedman Gallery, Meaning as Second Language , West Hartford, Connecticut, 1994 Universita degli Studi di Roma 'Le Sapienza, "L'espirit de geometrrie di Leonid Lamm", RITMICA , Rubbettino, 1994, pp. 88-104 CATALOGUE NOTE Leonid Lamm enrolled in the Moscow Institute of Building and Construction in 1944, where he studied with Iakov Chernikhov, the famed Russian avant-garde architect of the 1920s. Lamm entered the Moscow Polygraphic Institute in 1949, graduating in 1954. He became the chief art director of a publishing house in Saratov, and the following year returned to Moscow, where he continued working as an architect. He joined the Artists' Union in 1964, and began his successful career as an illustrator for various publishing houses. After his arrest in 1973, he continued his artistic work in jail, creating watercolors and sketches realistically depicting the monotony of incarcerated life. Lamm was released from prison in 1976 and immigrated to the United States in 1982; he settled in New York. In the present lot, Lamm placed images of ancient civilizations—sphinxes and pyramids—in an unusual context, providing these images with a wealth of symbolic interpretations and allusions. The sphinx—a zoomorphic mythological figure, usually portrayed as a recumbent lion with a human head—has its origins in Old Kingdom Egypt. In Greek mythology, the sphinx is a demon of destruction and bad luck, but it can also symbolize strength, power, and wisdom. In Lamm's work, the two sphinxes, depicted facing each other, signify two superpowers—the former Soviet Union and the United States. The right sphinx, representing the Soviet Union, is shown semi-destroyed or semi-built, alluding to the notion of the country's unrealized potential. The pyramids, which constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization, are here turned upside down and transformed, with the addition of a barcode, into a symbol of consumerism. The most prolific era of pyramid building coincided with the most absolutist phase of pharaonic rule; by including images of pyramids in this composition, Lamm refers to the notion of power and control. Mathematical equations and measurements, which are also present in Lamm's work, refer to the tendency of contemporary societies to control and standardize life.

Estimé : 12 000 / 18 000 Traduire la description de ce lot §LAMM, LEONID B. 1928 Organisation of Planes signed and dated 1954-1955, also inscribed in Cyrillic on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 70 by 50 cm. Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Matthew Bown Gallery. Private collection, France. Exhibited: Artists of the Russian Underground , London, October 2007. The work will be included in the catalogue of The Russian Museum exhibition.