Towpath - Ossip Braz (1873-1936)

An oil on canvas measuring 61X50 cm representing a towpath signed lower right dated by Ossip Braz (1873-1936)

Ossip Braz is a Russian painter, born in Odessa in Russia in 1873 and died in Paris in 1936. He was curator of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. In 1898 Ossip Braz painted a famous portrait of Anton Chekhov.
From 1907 to 1911 he stayed in France and under the influence of French painting he became interested in landscape. He painted many landscapes, especially in Brittany.
In 1924, he was arrested; accused of illegal export of paintings and espionage, he spent 3 years in the gulag, at the Solovki camp.
In 1928 he moved to Germany and then to Paris.
He participated in Russian Art exhibitions in Berlin and Paris in 1931 and 1932.