André Lanskoy was a Russian artist born in Moscow. In 1919, he fought on the Crimean front with the Tsarist army before fleeing to Paris in 1921, where he joined the Russian artistic community. He studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and became friends with Chaïm Soutine.

Inspired by Van Gogh and Matisse, he painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits, and exhibited his first solo show in Paris in 1925. After 1937, he moved away from figurative work towards informal painting in gouache. He valued colour deeply, writing: ‘I think that it is the love that one puts colour on his palette and poses on his canvas that heats and illuminates the painting.’

Known for his rich, vibrant style, Lanskoy was a popular painter, illustrator and creator of mosaics, collages and tapestry cartoons. He exhibited internationally and became one of the last living representatives of the Russian School alongside Nicolas de Staël, Charchoune and Poliakoff.