Code:P253

A glazed serigraphy (silk screening) abstract of highly regarded artist Sam Vanni. Signed bottom right and dated 1979.

He is an artist who to this day commands prices in the thousands for original pieces of his work.

We have been lucky to have sourced one of his limited editions, this one being number 71 of only 100 in existence as shown to the bottom left.

To the verso is an email from the previous owner of this artwork asking the artist’s son for a valuation for insurance purposes. The response from the son is 1.000 euros. There is also attached to the rear of what appears to be the artist’s biography in Finnish.

Dimensions framed: W:38cm H:50cm D:1cm

Condition: Scuffs and marks to the metal frame but the picture itself is in good condition.

Our own research into the artist’s history has produced the following results as below:

Biography

Aliases – Samuel Besprosvanni, Samuil Bezprozvannyj, Samuel Vanni.

Sam Vanni (till 1941 Samuel Besprosvanni; 6 July 1908 – 20 October 1992) was a Finnish painter. He is considered to be the pioneer of abstract art in Finland.

Samuel Besprosvanni was born in Vyborg. His parents were fur trader Aron Besprosvanni and Rakel Stoler. Besprosvanni was multi-lingual since his early childhood. Of Jewish origin, his home language was Yiddish, but he went to a Swedish school and most of his friends were speaking Finnish. The Besprosvanni family moved to Helsinki in 1921 and in 1927 Samuel started studies in the Academy of Fine Arts.Later he studied in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence and was a private student of the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen.In 1931 his works were displayed in an annual Finnish Art Society exhibition.

From 1938 to 1939 Vanni lived in London and Paris, where he attended the Académie Julian and Académie de la Grande Chaumière. In the 1940s Vanni started to move towards more abstract art. He was especially influenced by French artists like Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. Sam Vanni was an active painter until his death in 1992. He was awarded by the Pro Finlandia and invited in the Academy of Finland in 1964.