Géza Vastagh (Hungarian, 1866-1919)
Lot 75 PROPERTY FROM THE ARTIST'S FAMILY

Géza Vastagh (Hungarian, 1866-1919)

A Lion in the Snow

Closed1 November 2012

Price Realised

USD 50,000

More Information

How to sell

Géza Vastagh (Hungarian, 1866-1919)
A Lion in the Snow
signed 'Vastagh Geza' (lower left)
oil on canvas
36½ x 51 in. (92.71 x 129.54 cm.)

The artist.
Thence by descent to the present owner.

Specialist note

In a letter dated 15 April 2012, the granddaughter of the artist writes:

'This picture portrays a snowy landscape in the Atlas Mountains in Algeria/North Africa. My grandfather spent 4 months there in 1898 after winning a national art competition. He went there with his younger brother Gyorgy.

He went there between January and April, probably in order to make a number of sketches of spring motives for his paintings. But it was a harsh winter with a lot of snow..and he had problems painting. In these times the species of the 'Atlas-Lion' was still alive although after the French colonization this species was almost extinct.

The landscape began as a watercolor color sketch and later in his atelier in Budapest, Vastagh worked it into a painting' (fig 1).