Alexander LASZENKO (1883-1944), Street in Cairo, 1928

oil, plywood; 67 x 87 cm;
Signed and dated p. d.: A. Laszenko / Le Caire' 1928.
Inscribed on the reverse: Tombia ... des Mameluques (in pencil).
The painting was exhibited at the Lviv exhibition of the artist's works in 1938. A photograph of the artist against the background of the offered painting has survived.

Alexander Lashenko abandoned his military career for painting, which he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. The painter traveled extensively, and in 1903-1904 he even took a trip around the world, an unusual event for the time. Thanks to his love of travel, but also archaeology, he discovered for his contemporaries, artists and art collectors, Egypt with all its oriental customs, culture, architecture, but most of all the colors of the Middle Eastern world, studied each time with repeated motifs of narrow streets, daily life or portraits. A photograph documenting the painter's 1938 exhibition, which took place at the Hotel Europejski in Lviv, has been preserved in the collection of the National Digital Archive (ref. 1-K-3987). The photo shows the Archbishop of Lviv of the Armenian Rite, Jozef Teodorowicz, accompanied by the artist during the ongoing presentation of the painter's works. The background of the figure shows the offered painting.