Daniil Andreevich Solojeff 1908–1994 Face, Violin, Horse. Gouache

Daniil Andreevich Solojef
1908–1994
Face, Violin, Horse
Gouache on paper
Signed upper left


An eclectic artist, his pictorial work (in oil or gouache), while notaffiliated with any particular school, exhibitscharacteristics close to the surrealism and neo-primitivism cherishedto Marc Chagall, whom he met in Cannes in1962). Jean-Pierre Delarge describes him as an “elliptical draftsman andsymbolist watercolorist who at times borrows Picabia’s system oftransparencies.”
For Jerzy Waldemar Jarocinski, known asWaldemar-George, “his phosphorescent hues […] graduallycement unity and engender harmony. While the motif—whether afirebird or a mermaid—serves as a common thread, the rhythm of the chromatic valuesappears to be the primary driving force behind his pictorial poems […]. Solojoff’s worksreveal a Slavic painter with a French education. ” [6]Startingin 1957, he simultaneously began a career as an illustrator, whichresulted in numerous publications, including editions of Baudelaire,Verlaine, the Bible, and others. He published some of his books himself.