Geza Jeno Ferenc Vastagh (Hungarian, 1866-1919). Oil on board painting depicting a lion and lioness. Signed along the lower left. With stickers from Christie’s New York affixed to the verso. Provenance: Christie’s, New York, Sale 8165: 19th Century & Impressionist, October 28, 1998, Lot 6; Private Minnesota Collection. Vastagh came from an artistic family. His father, Gyorgy Vastagh, was a painter, and his brother, Gyorgy, his niece, Eva, and his nephew, Laszlo, all became sculptors. He studied under Gabriel von Hackl at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. He initially rose to fame for his paintings of animals, notably cows, for which he was awarded a gold medal. A scholarship awarded to him in 1898 allowed him to travel to Algeria and Tunisia where he studied lions. He followed this interest in animals by studying creatures in zoos in Hamburg, Leipzig, and Berlin. Sight; height: 21 in x width: 27 in. Framed; height: 26 1/4 in x width: 32 1/2 in.