Leon Schulman Gaspard was a Russian-born painter, known for his paintings of indigenous cultures and folk traditions.
15 Facts About Leon Gaspard
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Leon Gaspard tended to paint scenes with throngs of people, and his favorite locations were in small towns in Belarus, Russia, Asia, and Taos, New Mexico.
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Leon Gaspard spent his youth in Russia and later studied in Paris, where he became a well-respected painter.
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Leon Gaspard moved with his wife, Evlyn Gasper, to the United States.
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Leon Gaspard's birthplace was either Vitebsk or Ulla, a small town about 35 miles west of Vitebsk.
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Leon Gaspard studied at the school of Yury Pen, a well-known Jewish-Belarusian artist.
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Leon Gaspard married him despite her mother's' objections, on December 24,1908, at the civil ceremony at the Mayor's office of the 14th arrondissement of the city of Paris.
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Later, living in the United States, he used the French-sounding last name to create a fictional biography, claiming that his father was Maxim Gaspard, a wealthy merchant of French descent, with whom young Leon traveled to Siberia.
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Leon Gaspard was enchanted by the beauty of this little town, nestled at the foot of the Sangre de Christo mountains.
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Leon Gaspard died of a heart attack on February 21,1964, and, according to his wishes, was buried on his property.
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Leon Gaspard participated in group shows at the gallery Georges Petit and gallery Devambez and had two personal exhibitions - at the gallery Boute in Brussels and at the gallery Salle Arti in Antwerp.
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Leon Gaspard found artistic success in Taos, where Leon Gaspard moved in 1918 and remained until his death.
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Unlike many of his contemporaries, Leon Gaspard continued to paint Russia, and far off places, rather than focus on the local Native Americans and landscape.
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Leon Gaspard's work sold steadily in New York City, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco, and he was well-known and financially successful.
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Leon Gaspard's work has sold well at auction houses, and in the early 2000s, prices for his paintings increased dramatically.