Jean Lambert-rucki (1888-1967) - The Masks

Jean Lambert-Rucki (1888-1967)
The Masks
Pencil drawing 41 x 32.5 cm
Signed and dated 1933 at the top right.

Painter and sculptor of Polish origin, Jean Lambert-Rucki came to Paris in 1911 and settled in Montparnasse. A friend of Modigliani, Fernand Léger, Moïse Kisling, Gustave Miklos or Léopold Survage, he participated in the Golden Section, then in the Union of Modern Artists (UAM). He was with Georges Rouault the renovator of sacred art. He worked closely with the great coppersmith Jean Dunand and with the jeweler Georges Fouquet. His ingenious, deeply modern art brings him closer to surrealism and primitivism. Lambert-Rucki lived discreetly in his studio in Montparnasse until the end of his life. It was rediscovered by the De Vos gallery in Paris. Apart from his astonishing sculptures and innovative paintings, Lambert-Rucki produced surrealist drawings of which a series uses masks in the manner of James Ensor. This undoubtedly corresponds to a subject of sacred art.