RAYA SORKINE (1936–2022) Clown

signed ‘RAYA’ (lower right); signed, dated, dedicated ‘Pour Anne…/ 3 juin 1979/ …Raya’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas 46.5 x 38.2 cm Alain-François Bouvier Cachard, born in Paris in 1936, took his mother’s first and last names—Raya Sorkine—as his artist name. His mother, a Russian Jewish immigrant, passed on her Semitic and Slavic culture to him. Her joyful Jewish culture, punctuated by traditional festivals and music, colours, events and atmosphere, had a significant influence on his paintings.