Here we have a superb early 20th Century charcoal on paper attributed to French Listed Artist Léopold Survage 1879-1968. The drawing depicts miners loading coal wagons in a mine setting. The artwork is signed lower right and has been stamped with the artist's atelier stamp giving great provenance. A beautiful example from this World famous artist being a well constructed painting that would grace any wall in your home. Biography : He was a Russian-French painter of Finnish origin. Trained in Moscow, he identified with the Russian avant-garde before moving to Paris, where he shared a studio with Amedeo Modigliani and experimented with abstract films. He also gained commissions for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. At a young age, Survage was directed to enter the piano factory operated by his Finnish father. He learned to play the piano, then completed a commercial diploma in 1897. After a severe illness at the age of 22, Survage rethought his career and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Introduced to the modern movement through the collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, he cast his lot with the Russian avant-garde and, by 1906, was loosely affiliated with the circle of the magazine Zolotoye runo. He met Alexander Archipenko, exhibiting with him in the company of David Burlyuk, Vladimir Burlyuk, Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova. With Hélène Moniuschko, later his wife, he travelled to Western Europe, visiting Paris in July 1908. The couple eventually settled in Paris where Survage worked as a piano tuner and briefly attended the short-lived school run by Henri Matisse. He exhibited with the Jack of Diamonds group in Moscow in 1910 and first showed his work in France—at the urging of Archipenko—in the Salon d'Automne of 1911. Beginning in 1917, Survage shared a studio and was drinking partners with Amedeo Modigliani in Paris. Survage later moved to Nice and, over the next eight years, produced highly structured oils and works on paper linked together by a series of leitmotifs, repeating groups of symbolic elements—man, sea, building, flower, window, curtain, bird—as if they were protagonists in a series of moving images. The influence may have been Marc Chagall's, an artist well known for his insertions of floating couples, cows, roosters, and sundry Jewish iconography. By 1922, Survage had begun to move away from Cubism in favour of the neo-classical form. The 1937 International Exhibition of Arts and Techniques was a real opportunity for Léopold Survage. He had been wanting to paint on large surfaces for many years and this exhibition gave him the opportunity. In fact, it was Robert Delaunay who approached Survage, his old friend, directly to collaborate on this major project. Thus, alongside Dufy, Léger, Herbin, Metzinger and Valmier who had also received commissions, Delaunay and Survage set to work; they were in charge of decorating the Palais des Chemins de Fer and the Palais de l'Aviation. Survage's work for the Palais des Chemins de Fer earned him a gold medal. The announcement of the declaration of war with Germany deeply shocked the artist, who in reaction chose the myth of Icarus in his work The Fall of Icarus in 1940; a way for him to exorcise his anguish in the face of the peril that had just begun. Throughout the conflict, Survage threw all of his favourite themes onto the canvas, certainly to take refuge in a universe that he mastered, sheltered from the madness of men. Since 1945, Leopold enjoys a fame and an important activity. He exhibited all over the world and was part of several groups and movements; whether it was the cubists or abstraction, Survage always found a place of choice. At the end of the war, Survage produced a number of important works such as Papillon, L'oiseleur and Pax. In good condition for its age and comes framed and glazed. Please view the photographs as part of the description. The frame and glazing are a gift no compensation given if damaged in transit. Postage via DHL or UPS Please note that there will be a customs duty to be paid before delivery to you can take place. Will be professionally wrapped with quality materials.