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Leonid Pasternak (Леонид Осипович Пастернак) (1862-1945)
Think that you may own a painting by Leonid Pasternak? We authenticate, appraise, research and issue certificates of authenticity (COA) and provide consultations for all paintings by Leonid Pasternak.
Island Rugen 1906
Leonid Pasternak was born in Odessa to the family of a Jewish innkeeper on April 4, 1862. He was the youngest of the six children in the family. He started to draw very early, but his family tried to discourage him, as they feared that his drawing would interfere with his studies. His first sponsor was the local street cleaner who began buying Pasternak's art when Leonid was seven years old.
Night Before Examination
In 1881-1885 Leonid studied at the Moscow University, first at the Medical Department, then at the Department of Law. Eventually he decided to devote his life to Art and entered the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from which he graduated in 1887. He returned to Russia, served the compulsory two years in the army (artillery regiment) and in 1889 started a career as a full-time painter.
Under a Lamp 1902
The start of his career was very successful. His first exhibited painting was bought by Pavel Tretyakov, the most important art sponsor in Russia of the time. He soon became a popular painter, a member of the so called Polenov circle, that included Valentin Serov, Isaac Levitan, Mikhail Nesterov, Konstantin Korovin. In 1889 he married the pianist Rosalia (Raytza Srulevna) Kaufman, and the same year settled in Moscow.
Moscow in Winter 1912
Leonid Pasternak was one of the first Russian painters who labelled himself an Impressionist. In Russia in the 1880s and 1890s such a proclamation was novel enough to draw attention to an artist. Leonid also was a member of the Peredvizhniki and Union of Russian Artists movements. He was a friend of Leo Tolstoy, for months lived in Yasnaya Polyana, and painted many portraits of the great writer, also illustrating his novels War and Peace and Resurrection. He was awarded a medal at the World Fair in Paris (1900) for his illustrations of Tolstoy's novels.
Leo Tolstoy
Pasternak was elected a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1905), and also taught at the Moscow School of painting, sculpturing and architecture. In 1921 Pasternak needed an eye surgery, that was performed in Berlin. He travelled there with his wife and two daughters, leaving sons (Boris and Alexander) in Russia. After the surgery he decided not to return to Russia, remaining in Berlin until 1938 when he took refuge from the Nazis in Great Britain. He died in Oxford on May 31, 1945. Still wondering about an early 20th century Russian painting in your family collection? Contact us…it could be by Leonid Pasternak.
