Image

Leon Gaspard was a Taos painter of the early 20th  century, with an eccentric style that makes him marginally less popular than some of his straightforwardly impressionist colleagues.

He was a Russian who traveled in the the Soviet Union in the 20's. Like his predecessor , the poet and novelist Lermontov (grandfather Scot "Learmont"), his was a transformed western name-- his grandfather was a Huguenot refugee fleeing persecution in France.*

For now, a simple image, very real despite romanticism... photo'd from Frank Water's book. I would be interested in seeing any better version, or any of the other falconry images that exist...

* Or the great 20th century ornithologist Vladimir Flint, whose "Flint's Rules" for toasting with Vodka have brought  many to their knees...