Igor Prager (1938 -?) - La Mungitrice

Painting, mixed media on hardboard, depicting a grotesque crouching figure, hypertrophic hand drawn with hatch marks, landscape with a river, izbas, a small Orthodox church, a van, a spiral sky.

Style: unofficial Soviet grotesque Expressionism.

Technique: vinyl tempera / opaque lean oil

Measurements: cm. 45.5 x 43.5 - with frame cm. 24.5 x 27 - without frame

Frame: wooden with aged gold finish, 1970s-1980s, solid, closed corners + fabric-covered passepartout, with a yellow-brown stain (glue/moisture) in the top right - Frame offered as a gift.

Signature: signed in the lower right in Cyrillic: Prager. Autographed and dated inscription on the back with title and dedication, in Russian: translated 'This Milker for Franco Miele by Igor Prager, 1973' - Igor Prager was a Russian painter known mainly as a book illustrator and painter of the Russian diaspora in Canada, where he emigrated in the 1970s with his family and settled in the Montreal suburb.

Provenance: Direct donation from the artist to the painter, art critic and Italian dealer Franco Miele (Formia 1924 - Rome 1983). Miele made more than 30 trips to the Soviet Union between 1965-1975, purchasing and bringing to Italy paintings of Russian avant-garde and non-conformist works, exhibiting them in shows he organized. The painting comes directly from his private collection.

Condition: good, solid support, not mounted, painting layer with good adhesion. Signature and dedication fully legible. The painting is provided with glass.