SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Léopold Survage’s career combines an exploration of the relationship between colour and music with projects for abstract cinema, the stage, textiles and monumental painting. Before devoting himself to painting, he worked from 1897 to 1900 as an apprentice in his father’s piano workshop. In 1899, he enrolled at the École des beaux-arts in Moscow, where he studied with Constantin Korovine and Leonid Pasternak. He moved to Paris in 1908 with Hélène Moniuschko, whom he married that same year, attended the Matisse and Colarossi academies and began exhibiting in 1911.
In 1914, he developed the concept of «coloured rhythm», which draws an analogy between visual colour and music, and presented his ideas on abstract cinema at the Salon des indépendants. His work also extended to designing sets and costumes for Serge de Diaghilev’s Ballets russes, designing fabrics for Chanel and creating religious works. In the 1950s and 1960s, he devoted himself to monumental painting and, among other works, created a fresco for the Palais des Congrès de Liège. He was appointed an officer of the Légion d’honneur on 12 March 1963.
The Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Genoa lists Pecheuses de Collioure, dated 1930 and measuring 115 × 160 cm, under inventory number GAM1190. The Art Institute of Chicago also lists several works by Survage, including Composition (1915), Nice (1916), Abstract Cityscape (1924) and Hand Holding Cloth (1929). A commercial biography mentions his participation in Dance of Colours. Nijinsky’s Eyz and Abstraction at the Hamburger Kunsthalle in 2009, followed by Léopold Survage : Abstrait ou cubisme at the Musée Ianchelevici in 2017–2018. His work has been studied, among other publications, in Survage, les années héroïques by Jeanine Warnod, published in 1993, and Survage, les années Collioure, 1925-1932 by Daniel Abadie, published in 2012.
This profile brings together identity references for Léopold Survage and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
14 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky, Kornfeld, Genève Enchères, Schuler, Piguet, Germann. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Watercolour
Composition architecturale
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-12-08
Published result : 350 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 400–600
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Watercolour
Géométrie
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-12-08
Published result : 650 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Watercolour
Abstraction aux visages
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2025-12-08
Published result : 1200 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 600–800
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Ink on paper
Nu debout de dos
encre sur papier
Catalogue period : 2024-11-28 — 2024-12-11
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 600–800
View the lot at the auction house ↗Gouache
Ohne Titel (La ville)
gouache
Catalogue period : 2022-06-16
Published result : 4000 CHF
Hammer price, excluding fees
Estimate : CHF 4000
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Watercolour and pencil on paper
Kubistische Stadtansicht
Aquarell und Bleistift auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2020-09-18
Published result : 1600 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800–1400
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Watercolour and pencil on paper
Kubistische Stadtansicht
Aquarell und Bleistift auf Papier
Catalogue period : 2018-12-14
Published result : 500 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 800–1200
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Pencil
Figure.
Bleistift
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
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Oil on canvas
Pêcheur et nu rose
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2014-06-18
Published result : 14000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 6000–8000
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Watercolour
L'oeil et la main, 1949
Aquarell.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗Mixed media on paper
"Tête".
Mischtechnik auf Papier
Date to be documented
Published result : 14000 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 4000
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Watercolour
Deux nus
aquarelle
Catalogue period : 2015-12-09
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
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Ink on paper
Léopold Survage (1879-1968), \\Cheval\\, encre sur
encre sur papier
Catalogue period : 2011-06-22
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 350–450
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Oil on canvas
Lumière
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2017-03-15
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
Estimate : CHF 20000–30000
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19
