Harvest in the Ukraine

This evocative and charming landscape was acquired by Anton Lessing, great-grandfather of the present owner, and has remained in his family until now. Lessing was one of the great Russian industrialists of his time; together with the engineers Gustav and Amand Struwe he acquired a license for developing diesel engines, an action instrumental in Russia's subsequent status as the world's foremost producer of diesel motors. Awarded the order of St Stanislas (2nd Class) by Nicholas II, Lessing received a Red Cross medal in 1907 for his actions during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). It was in St Petersburg that Lessing met his wife, née de Kryper, the widow of Jean Baptiste Victor Cappelmans, owner and editor of the magazine Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg.

At the end of World War I Anton's son, Gottfried Lessing (1877-1950), brought his family to the Schlachtensee in Berlin. Here the Orlovsky hung in the Villa Lessing, serving as a treasured reminder of the family's connection to Russia. Gottfired's daughter, Irene Gysi subequently took the painting to Berlin-Johannisthal where it has remained in the family home for the last sixty years.