Jan Lebenstein (1930 - 1999), Figure

ink, mixed technique, paper; 24 x 22.5 cm in st. p-p;
signed and dated p. d.: "Lebenstein 61 (?)";
Inscribed l. d.: "Figure";
on the back of the binding, handwritten inscriptions: "II desir (flow master) no 10 / 2955 #12 / JAN LEBENSTEIN / J. Lebenstein / Desir flow master No 10 / # 081"

Provenance:
Private collection, Canada

Prehistoric creatures, beasts, animals with anthropomorphic features, axial figures, eroticism and death. The work of Jan Lebenstein - a separate artist, unyielding to artistic fashions or conjunctural expectations - touched on the dark, primordial side of man. He talked about the common animalism, brutality through archetypes, references to outstanding literary works, mythology or culture of ancient civilizations. His depictions of animals were characterized by caricature and archaism. Totemic figures were aesthetically reminiscent of prehistoric paintings. They were created by Lebenstein, among others, in the 1960s.