Osip Braz

Biography He began his art education in Odessa, now Ukraine, and continued it in Munich (1891–1893), where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. During his stay in Europe he studied Western European painting, which had a significant influence on his work. After Germany, he went to Paris, and then to the Netherlands where he studied the Dutch masters. and a member of the commission for the restoration of paintings by the Hermitage Museum. In the first years of Soviet rule, he was appointed curator of the Hermitage.

In 1924 Braz was arrested on false charges of buying paintings for export abroad, and espionage, and was then imprisoned for three years in Solovki prison camp, while his art collections, including important Dutch works from the 17th century, were confiscated and made state property. In late 1926, he was released at the request of the Leningrad artistic societies. In order to avoid more trouble he moved to Germany in 1928, and then settled in Paris. He spent the last years of his life in Paris, where he continued painting, trading antiques and collecting.

Selected paintings