Alexandre Fasini (1892 - 1942) oil on canvas painting, Still life of fruit. Signed lower right.

Provenance: Bonhams Knightsbridge, British and European Art, including works from L'Ecole de Paris, The Jewish Artists, 11/10/2021, lot 58.

Note: Alexandre Fasini grew up in a family of grain merchants. Fasini spent his childhood in Odessa and attended the School of Fine Arts where he took classes taught by the Greek Impressionist Kiriak Kostandi. He became friends with artist Philippe Hosiasson and writer Isaac Babel, and drew illustrations for Odessa newspapers including Bomba and Yablochko. In 1922, he traveled to France on a Soviet ship, and established his residence at rue Daru in Montparnasse, Paris. Practicing between the genres of abstraction and surrealism, Fasini sought for an original artistic expression that would distinguish his position within the School of Paris. Max Berger, owner of the Galerie Vavin, exhibited Fasini's work for two years alongside Jean Lurçat, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Papazoff. During the Vel d'Hiv roundup in 1942, he was arrested by the French police and his work was destroyed in his studio. Fasini was interned in Drancy and died tragically in Auschwitz.

13 x 16 in., (33 x 40.6 cm.)