EUGENE BERMAN (RUSSIAN 1899-1972) Man in a Cave, gouache on paper laid on cardboard 36.5 x 47.5 cm (14 3/8 x 18 3/4 in.) signed with monogram lower center
LOT NOTES Eugene Berman was a very successful Russian Neo-Romantic and Surrealist painter known for his imaginary landscapes. In 1918, Berman and his family fled to Paris to escape the Bolshevik Revolution. From 1920 to 1922, he studied at the Academie Ranson under Pierre Bonnard, a Neo-Romantic painter who had a major influence on his student`s artistic manner. Berman`s fantastical paintings, which focus on the expression of loneliness and human isolation, were so well-received in the West that the artist moved to the United States in order to take a part in an exhibition at New York`s Julien Levy Gallery alongside Salvador Dali, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp. He spent a few years designing covers for magazines such as Vogue and Harper`s Bazaar, before settling down in Hollywood in the early 1940s. Here he met his wife, actress Ona Munson, and continued to create Surrealist portrayals of the vast desert landscapes that surrounded him. Recognized internationally, Berman had many solo exhibitions throughout his career. His works are presently held at significant art institutions throughout the world.
