Ludolfs Liberts, 
Latvian / American 1895-1959- 
La Madeleine, Paris; 
oil on canvasboard, signed...

Ludolfs Liberts, 
Latvian / American 1895-1959- 

La Madeleine, Paris; 

oil on canvasboard, signed 'L Liberts' (lower right), 41 x 51.5 cm. 

Provenance: 
with Marquard Gallery, New York & Paris, no.0627. 
Private Collection, New York. 
By descent. 
Private Collection, UK. 

Note: 
The Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, or less formally, 'La Madeleine', is a Catholic parish church on Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It was planned by Louis XV as the focal point of the new Rue Royal, leading to the new Place Louis XV, the present Place de la Concorde. It was dedicated in 1764 by Louis XVI, but work halted due to the French Revolution. Napoleon Bonaparte had it redesigned in the Neoclassical style to become a monument to the glory of his armies. After his downfall in 1814 construction as a church resumed, but it was not completed until 1842. The building is surrounded on all four sides by columns in the Corinthian style.

Liberts was a painter and stage designer who worked in Latvia and across Europe. He studied under the artist Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) at the School of Art in Kazan, whilst also working as a painter in the Kazan Opera House. He served as a decorator and director of the Latvian National Opera (1924-1937) and worked in this sphere in Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia too. Liberts taught at the Latvian Art Academy between 1923 and 1932, and, with his colleagues from the Academy, was a central member of the artistic group 'Sadarbs'. He emigrated to the United States in 1950, and started teaching at New York City College in 1951. 

Liberts' output consists largely of Impressionistic and highly atmospheric city scenes such as the present work.