"Near The Post Office", unknown, 13" x 16", oil on board
I found this unframed
painting at a local thrift shop for $3.77, including
tax. I think it is London scene from the 1920s or
1930s, judging by the image and the board that it is
painted on. I can almost make out the signature and
suspect that it may be "V. Sozonov", and is by
Russian painter Valerie Sozonov or Vsevolod Sozonov. Valerie is used as
a man's name in Russia. I suspect that the several records I have found for these two men are actually for the same man. I have only been able to
find a few examples of work attributed to this artist on
the Internet, but could not find an image of a
signature. I am researching a biography for these artists.
The style is very similar to the couple of examples of this
artist's work that I could find, and there were several mentions of
English and London scenes in the auction records of
his work. There are a few scratches and scrapes on
this piece, but I really like the motion in the
scene. I had almost given up on finding treasure
that day and was literally on my way out of the
door, when I saw it leaning, half hidden among some
other items. Woo and Hoo. The remnants of a label
and the pencilled title are verso. It is somewhat
maddening that the label was removed. I would
appreciate hearing from anyone who is familiar with
this artist's work.
Hi Kevin, just found your blog after searching about this artist. I'm on holiday in Aberdeenshire and just visited Delgatie Castle where they have several of Sozonov's works. So if you're ever over on this side of the pond it would be worth a visit. I'm no art buff and hadn't heard of him before hence the search. As for your painting it does appear to be a scene from London but during WWII as the 2 figures on the right of the picture with their backs to us look like they're servicemen (Royal Navy?) of some kind as they are both carrying gas masks in the light brown satchels over their shoulders. Also, that does appear to be St Paul's Cathedral in the background behind the other buildings. Hope this helps.
ReplyDelete