241 - LANSKOY (Alex). Wife of the Russian-born painter André Lanskoy (1902–1976).

LANSKOY (Alex). Wife of the Russian-born painter André Lanskoy (1902–1976). LONG HANDWRITTEN LETTER SIGNED “A. Lanskoy” TO COMPOSER AND MUSICOLOGIST JEAN WITOLD. Menton, April 11, 1960. 8 pages, in-4 format. An interesting letter discussing André Lanskoy’s circle of friends, the difficulties of daily life, and the couple’s friendly relationship with the composer Jean Witold. Alex Lanskoy tries to dissuade her correspondent from coming to visit them for the Easter holidays, due to the intrusive presence of the owners of their residence. She explains to him with disarming candor that his visit would be both a pleasure and a source of complications. “What a pain here! Right now we’re overrun by the owners of the ‘Casa’—there are five of them, and they’ve all come for a three-week vacation (thanks to Mr. Malraux!).” Living with them is becoming unbearable for her. She laments the lack of privacy and the encroachment on their living space: “The house isn’t meant for mere cohabitation but for a family or for people driven by the same spirit. ” She confides in him about her nervous exhaustion and compares her condition to the one in which she had found Jean Witold during a previous meeting in Marly: “I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown, of depression. It seems to me that my condition resembles yours when I found you in Marly. All my living space is taken up.” Despite these circumstances, she invites Witold to come alone with Staley, assuring him that they will do their best to regain their composure and give him a warm welcome. She concludes by thanking him for the gift he gave on the occasion of André Lanskoy’s birthday on March 31. This correspondence offers a personal glimpse into the private life of the Lanskoy couple and their circle of friends and artists in the late 1950s. It also sheds light on the connections between the worlds of painting and music, as reflected in its recipient, Jean Witold. André Lanskoy (1902–1976), a French painter of Russian origin, was one of the leading figures of lyrical abstraction and the New School of Paris. His work, characterized by great chromatic intensity, is notably represented in the collections of the National Museum of Modern Art. The document shows creases, wrinkles, a few stains, and signs of wear, but no text is missing.