(1875–1946) Russian artist and painter, associated stylistically with Mir iskusstva (The World of Art). An attractive solid bronze sculpture of a smiling peasant man and woman in a simple carriage drawn by a draft horse, signed by the artist Eugene Lanceray in Cyrillic lettering on the base. The piece measures 18 in. wide and 9 in. deep. One rein is separated from the driver's hand, and the driver's whip is missing, which does not substantially detract from the appeal of this beautiful piece. Fine condition overall. Lanceray was the only prominent member of Mir iskusstva to remain in Russia after the Revolution of 1917. Being a representative of traditional painting and the bourgeoisie, he was not in great demand with the new Soviet government. Even his sister found the revolutionary milieu alien to her art and, in 1924, she fled to Paris. Lanceray himself hated the new Soviet regime and the oppression of his relatives and close friends (some of them immigrated and some of them were killed). In February 1932 he left a note in his diaries: ‘There is incredible impoverishment. Of course, this is the government’s goal to bring everyone and everything to poverty, since it is easier to manage the poor and the hungry’.