Alexander LASZENKO (1883-1944), Courtship, 1936

Color woodcut, paper, 44 x 26 cm in light passe-partout, 61 x 41 cm;
Signed in pencil l.d.: "A Laszenko"; Inscribed in pencil p.d.: "woodcut 1936r".
Graphic from the "Eastern Portfolio". Lit. by K. Kotula, Aleksander Laszenko, Włocławek 1992, item 62, p. 17.
Painter, printmaker, traveler; studied painting and Oriental studies in St. Petersburg, Cairo and Luxor; traveled a lot, in Japan he learned the technique of multicolor woodcut, almost every year he traveled to North Africa, he was fascinated especially by Egypt - its history and daily life, he was friends with the British Egyptologist H. Carter, discoverer of Tutankhamun's tomb; in 1918 he returned to Poland; he painted landscapes, mainly of oriental themes (Young Arab with donkeys at a watering hole, ca. 1903; Oasis of Biskoa, 1931; Ruins of an ancient city, n.d.) and portraits, especially of women of exotic beauty (Ben Brahim's Daughter, 1938).
In addition to painting, he practiced printmaking, mainly color woodcuts (in 1936 he published a printmaking portfolio that presented Eastern themes and motifs); his woodcuts were very popular; he participated in many domestic and foreign exhibitions.
The frames shown in the visuals are for illustrative purposes and do not constitute a commercial offer.