19 Jan Lebenstein (1930 - 1999) "Figure no 172," 1962 oil/canvas, 129.5 x 81.3 cm Signed and dated lower right: 'Lebenstein 62& Signed, dated and described on the reverse: 'Lebenstein figure no 172 ID: 119359 Taxes and fees - In addition to the hammer price, the successful bidder agrees to pay us a buyer's premium on the hammer prices of each lot sold. On all lots we charge 20 % of the hammer price. - To this lot we apply 'artist&s owe right' (&#xx27;droit de suite&#xi27;) fee. Royalties are calculated using a sliding scale of percentage of the hammer price. Provenance private collection, USA == sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man institutional collection, Poland DESA Unicum, 2024 private collection, Poland More information The Figur axial series, which belong to the Figura 172, is one of the most recognizable painting cycles in the history of contemporary Polish art, willingly collected in the world in the 1960s in parallel with Mark Rothko's works. John Lebenstein's paintings were included in Albrecht Grokhost and David Rockefeller's collections. The cycle itself consists of a total of about 30 paintings, created in the late 1950s in Rembertów and early 1960s in Paris, where less than a year after Lebenstein's emigration, there was a large individual exhibition of his works in Museé d. Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The picture depicted foreshadowed the transformation that took place in his painting in 1962. The artist then abandoned the recognized series of figures and began to work on the Beastary. They inspired him, as he himself admitted, tours to the Museum of Natural History of Paris, where he observed skeletons immersed in fossils.