Georges Lavroff (Russian, 1895-1991), Tigre à l'affut

Bronze with enhanced verdigris patina, mounted atop a pyramidal sloped black slate terrace, incised signature "Lavroff" to the terrace edge underside inscribed "Mansard".

9 x 24 1/4 x 5 3/4 in.

Private Collection, Charleston, South Carolina

Georges Lavroff was a sculptor born in what is now Russia in 1895. In 1915 Lavroff began his studies with the Medical Faculty of the University of Tomsk where he attended painting classes with the Tomsk Artists' Society. He served during the October Revolution and the following Russian Civil War in the 6th Regiment of the "Partisans of Azchipov". By 1922 Lavroff settled in Moscow where he was a member of the Russian Artists' Association from 1923-1926. During this time, he participated in exhibitions and monument projects, including the 1925 statue of Lenin in the Ukrainian Poltava. He studied at the Moscow College of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and was subsequently dispatched to France for the dissemination and promotion of Soviet art from 1927-1935. Here, he was best known for his numerous bronze and ceramic Art Deco style animal sculptures as well as his statuettes featuring dancers and mythological figures. He worked closely with the art publisher Marcel Guillemard and showed his work with the Société des Artistes Indépendants as well as the Salon d'Automne. In 1935 Lavroff returned to Russia where he worked as an accredited sculptor of the Soviet government until 1980 creating busts and monumental sculptures of Soviet political figures. He saw his first solo exhibition in Moscow in 1982. Lavroff died in Moscow in 1991.

Marble corners with scattered chipping; a few minor marks to the patina along the tail.