Lot description
Ivan Kurach (1909-1968) Ukrainian, Oil on Canvas Figurative Expressionist Horse. A dark horse rearing up against a heavily textured, muted background of white, grey, and brown. The work features a bold, almost sculptural depiction of the animal using thick, gestural brushstrokes, which conveys energy and tension. Signed lower right. Framed. Overall Size: 17 1/4 x 22 1/2 in. Sight Size: 14 x 19 in. Ivan Kurach (1909–1968) was a Ukrainian-born painter and graphic artist whose career spanned much of the midâ20th century and whose work combined elements of Impressionism, Constructivism, and European modernism. Born in the village of Serdytsia in what was then western Ukraine, he studied art in Lviv and Warsaw before traveling through major cultural centers — including Rome, Berlin, and later Milan — where he absorbed a wide range of stylistic influences. Kurach’s oeuvre includes paintings and mixedâmedia works that alternate between moody, realist portrayals and abstract, geometrically influenced compositions, reflecting both his Ukrainian heritage and his trans-European training. His works have turned up in exhibitions and auctions, and despite living a life marked by migration and artistic transition, Kurach remains valued among collectors for his fusion of Eastern European sensibility with modernist experimentation.