Leonid Gechtoff (1883-1941) 'Gunung Arjuno, east Java', signed l.r., canvas. 95 x 145 cm. Gechtoff was born in Odessa, at that time imperial Russia. Around 1905 he fled with his parents to Egypt, supposedly to escape being drafted into the Russian Army. There he started painting in the at that time popular orientalistic style. He was a great admirer of Vincent Van Gogh, and went to the Netherlands, Van Goghs native country, where he met his Russian wife Etya. In 1918 he and his wife moved to the Dutch East Indies, where he was overwhelmed by the vulcanic landscapes of Java. From thereon they travelled to the Philippines which since the Spanish-American War of 1898 was an American dependency. In 1921 the couple settled in Philadelphia where Gechtoff’s paintings were a great success. This established him as a prominent American painter. Several important American museums have his work on display. Source of this biography: Planetarium Zuylenburgh, The Netherlands. This museum has a work by Gechtoff as well.