Lot 254: Leonid Lamm , Russian b. 1928 Before the Mirror, 1987 mixed media on canvas

signed with artist's initials L.L. and dated 87 (lower right); signed Leonid Lamm , titled Before the Mirror and dated 1987 (on the reverse); also inscribed Lamm 007 (across the stretcher) mixed media on canvas

measurements 52 by 78 in. alternate measurements 132 by 198.5 cm

New York, Marryane McCarthy Fine Arts, Images of the Mystery, 1988
New York, Edward Nakhamkin Fine Arts Gallery, Russian Art: The 1980's, 1989
New York, Stuart Levy Fine Art, Old Symbols, New Icons, 1993
Rye, New York, The Rye Arts Center, From Chaos to Creation: Russian Art 1972-1992, 1993
West Hartford, Connecticut, Chase Freedman Gallery, Meaning as Second Language, 1994
New Canaan, Connecticut, Silvermine Art Center, Retrospective, 2001

Daniaele Pieroni, "Leonid Lamm: un ironico Teseo russi", Arte e Cultura, Next, anno VIII, no. 24/25, pp.36-37
Chase Freedman Gallery, Meaning as Second Language, West Hartford, Connecticut, 1994
Universita degli Studi di Roma 'Le Sapienza, "L'espirit de geometrrie di Leonid Lamm", RITMICA, Rubbettino, 1994, pp. 88-104

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Leonid Lamm enrolled in the Moscow Institute of Building and Construction in 1944, where he studied with Iakov Chernikhov, the famed Russian avant-garde architect of the 1920s. Lamm entered the Moscow Polygraphic Institute in 1949, graduating in 1954. He became the chief art director of a publishing house in Saratov, and the following year returned to Moscow, where he continued working as an architect. He joined the Artists' Union in 1964, and began his successful career as an illustrator for various publishing houses.

After his arrest in 1973, he continued his artistic work in jail, creating watercolors and sketches realistically depicting the monotony of incarcerated life. Lamm was released from prison in 1976 and immigrated to the United States in 1982; he settled in New York.

In the present lot, Lamm placed images of ancient civilizations--sphinxes and pyramids--in an unusual context, providing these images with a wealth of symbolic interpretations and allusions. The sphinx--a zoomorphic mythological figure, usually portrayed as a recumbent lion with a human head--has its origins in Old Kingdom Egypt. In Greek mythology, the sphinx is a demon of destruction and bad luck, but it can also symbolize strength, power, and wisdom.

In Lamm's work, the two sphinxes, depicted facing each other, signify two superpowers--the former Soviet Union and the United States. The right sphinx, representing the Soviet Union, is shown semi-destroyed or semi-built, alluding to the notion of the country's unrealized potential. The pyramids, which constitute one of the most potent and enduring symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization, are here turned upside down and transformed, with the addition of a barcode, into a symbol of consumerism. The most prolific era of pyramid building coincided with the most absolutist phase of pharaonic rule; by including images of pyramids in this composition, Lamm refers to the notion of power and control. Mathematical equations and measurements, which are also present in Lamm's work, refer to the tendency of contemporary societies to control and standardize life.