This work is distinguished by its free plastic generalisation and audacious colour contrasts reflect the young artist’s interest in such modern movements in French painting as Fauvism, which he studied at the Academy of Marie Vassilieff, a student of Henri Matisse. Over the year that he spent in Paris, Altman, a graduate of the Odessa School of Art, an institution known for its adherence to Realist traditions, assimilated the most important elements of the Paris school — painterly emancipation and free figurative play.

Altman Nathan

Altman, Nathan Isayevich (1889, Vinnitsa - 1970, Leningrad)
Painter, graphic artist, sculptor, book, theatrical and cinema designer. Studied under Kiriak Kostandi and Gennady Ladyzhensky at the Odessa School of Art (1903-07) and at the Maria Vasilyeva Free Russian Academy in Paris (1910-11). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1906). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Fellowship of South Russian Artists (1910), Union of Youth (1913-14), World of Art (1913, 1915, 1916) and the Jewish Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1915-19; founding member). Taught at Mikhail Bernstein's studio (1915-16) and the State Free Art Studios in Petrograd (1918-20). Member of Department of An, People's Commissariat of Education (1918-21). Research assistant of the Institute of Artistic Culture (1923). Designed for theatres. Honoured Artist of the Russian Soviet Federater Socialist Republic (1968).