A.R.THUR
Born in Lucerne (Switzerland) on 23 January 1920.
Died in Marseille (France) on 1 December 2009.
Swiss · Twentieth-century Swiss painting and drawing · portraiture.
A.R.THUR is the artist’s name of Joseph Kost, a Swiss painter and draughtsman. SIK-ISEA also records him as Joseph Kaspar Kost and identifies portraiture as a focus of his work.
The Getty Union List of Artist Names brings Joseph Kost and A.R. THUR together in a single authority record for the Swiss painter of 1920–2009. This makes it possible to trace the artist under both his civil name and his artist’s name without confusing him with contemporary namesakes.
A signed oil painting, Portrait de Pierre Mauroy, bearing a dedication recalling a visit to Marseille in 1981, appeared in the 2023 Wattebled & Portay sale Souvenirs de Gilberte et Pierre Mauroy in Lille. The catalogue estimate was €60–80; no public lot-specific result has been located.