'Autumnal Still Life' by Zygmunt Landau, Large Horizontal Mid-Century Modern Oil

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Signed upper right, 'Landau' for Zygmunt Landau (Polish, 1898 - 1962) and painted circa 1929.
Accompanied by an old newspaper … Read more Signed upper right, 'Landau' for Zygmunt Landau (Polish, 1898 - 1962) and painted circa 1929.
Accompanied by an old newspaper clipping and postage to the artist's daughter, discovered behind the stretcher bars of the painting.

Born into a family of rabbis in Lodz, Zygmunt Landau, also known as Sigismond and Zigmund, pursued an artistic career and studied with fellow Jewish artist, Henri Epstein, at Jakub Kacenbogen’s drawing school before enrolling in the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts and studying under Stanislaw Lentz. By the time he was 18, Landau was teaching painting.

In 1920, the young artist moved to Paris where he continued his studies in Montparnasse at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Académie Colarossi. He lived at "La Ruche", an artists' community founded in 1902 by the sculptor Alfred Boucher, and became acquainted with Chaïm Soutine, Pinchus Krémègne, Michel Kikoïne and Moïse Kisling. He exhibited with success in Paris including regularly at the Salon D'Autumne, of which he became a member.

In 1928, Landau returned to Poland to exhibit in Warsaw and Lodz. In the late 1930s Landau illustrated Edmond Fleg's 'Ecoute Israel' (Listen Israel) published by La Cigogne editions. Upon the outbreak of WWII, Landau fled to Saint-Tropez, where he remained afterwards, also living in Nice and Paris. During his time in Saint-Tropez, Landau shared a flat with his friend, the British painter and critic Roger Fry.

Zygmunt Landau exhibited widely and with success including at the Salon des Tuileries, Galerie Zak (1934), Galerie d'Anjou (1946), Galerie Mirador (1954), at the Société des Artistes Indépendants (from 1926), at the Salon des Beaux-Arts (from 1921), and in London, Stockholm, Jerusalem and Amsterdam. Towards the end of the 1950s, he moved to Israel where he continued to paint for the remainder of his life. In 1962, he produced stained-glass windows for the little chapel of the Y.M.C.A in Tiberias, Israel.

Reference:
E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 8, page 223-224; Vollmer Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler des 20. Jarhhunderts, Hans Vollmer, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag 1992, Vol. 3, page 163; Dictionnaire Biographique des Artistes Contemporains, 1910-1934, Edouard-Joseph, Paris Art & Edition 1930-1934, Vol. 2, page 306; Modern Figurative Paintings, 1890-1950: The Paris Connection, Martin Wolpert & Jeffrey Winter, Schiffer Publishing Ltd: Pennsylvania 2004, page 171; et al. See less