Gouache on paper, framed. Featuring a suprematist expressionist composition. SIgned in Cyrillic on the lower right corner. Attributed to Ivan Kliun (Russian, born 1870). 24.5 x 19 cm (9.7 x 7.5 inches). Frame size: 36 x 31 cm (14.2 x 12.2 inches). PROVENANCE: Southern Ontario estate

Ivan Kliun was born in 1870. He started his painting career with Impressionist still lifes and landscapes and finished with meticulously realistic, scrupulously adjusted landscapes and still lifes. Ivan Kliun studied art in the 1880s -90s in Warsaw, and the Drawing School of the Association for Encouragement of Arts. In the early 1890s Ivan Kliun moved to Moscow, where he visited art studios of F.I. Rerberg, V. F. Fischer, and I.I. Mashkov. In 1907 Ivan Kliun met Kazimir Malevich and joined his theoretical and creative quest for new ways in art. In 1910 Ivan Kliun approached members of the Youth Association. Ivan Kliun worked on creation of picture reliefs sculpture paintings by combining glass, metal, wood and other materials from 1913. The artist became the founder of The Moscow Salon in 1910, created a Suprematist pamphlet and illustrated the booklet Secret Defects of Academists by A. E. Kruchenykh and published the essay Primitives of the 20th Century in 1915. Ivan Kliun became a member of Kazimir Malevich’ group Supremus in 1916. After the October Revolution Ivan Kliun was engaged in organizational activities a lot. He headed the central All-Russian Exhibition Bureau (1917-21) and taught painting in VKHUTEMAS. Ivan Kliun illustrated the book Texture of the Word. Declaration by A.E. Kruchenykh in 1923. He went on with his abstract art. He painted Scarlet Spectrum in 1919, Suprematism in 1921, Portrait of A.E. Kruchenykh in 1926, and Electrification (glass, metal, and wood). From the late 1930s Ivan Kliun unexpectedly resorted to landscapes and realistic still-lives, which he gave away to his acquaintances. The artist died in 1943.

All lots that do not carry established documented provenance nor any past record of auction history record are described in the catalog as attributed .

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Signed [Artist Name] : In cases in which the signature is legible in the lot, this work is described as-is with no attributions given.

By [Artist Name] : The work is by the artist.

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In the manner of [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but was designed deliberately to emulate the style of the artist.

After [Artist Name] : The work was executed by an unknown hand, but is a deliberate copy of a known work by the artist.

Circle of [Artist Name] : A work of the period of the artist showing his influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily his pupil.

Follower of [Artist Name]: A work by a pupil or a follower of the artist (not necessarily a pupil).

American, 19th century : This work was executed by an unknown hand, and can only be identified by origin (i.e., region, period).