KRYMOV, NIKOLAI (1884-1958) Before the Rain , signed and dated 1911, also further signed and dated on the stretcher. - photo 1
KRYMOV, NIKOLAI (1884-1958) Before the Rain , signed and dated 1911, also further signed and dated on the stretcher. - photo 1

KRYMOV, NIKOLAI (1884-1958) Before the Rain , signed and dated 1911, also further signed and dated on the stretcher.

Sold
£ 268 500
Auction dateClassic
06.06.2018 12:30UTC +02:00
Auctioneer
MacDougall Arts Ltd.
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 70685
Lot 20* | KRYMOV, NIKOLAI (1884-1958) Before the Rain , signed and dated 1911, also further signed and dated on the stretcher.
Oil on canvas, 60 by 82 cm.

Provenance: Collection of Kh. Kagan in the 1960s.

Important private collection, Europe.



Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov.

Authenticity has also been confirmed by the expert Yu. Rybakova.



Exhibited: Vystavka proizvedenii Nikolaia Petrovicha Krymova, Akademiia khudozhestv SSSR, Moscow, 1967.



Literature: Exhibition catalogue, T. Rottert (ed.), Vystavka Nikolaia Petrovicha Krymova. Katalog, Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1966, p. 18, listed under the year 1911.

Reproduced on a postcard, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1968.

M. Sitnina (ed.), Nikolai Petrovich Krymov. Albom reproduktsii, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1970, p. 40, illustrated; p. 99, listed.

Exhibition catalogue, I. Porto (ed.), Nikolai Petrovich Krymov. Zhivopis. Grafika. Teatralno-dekoratsionnoe iskusstvo, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1984, No. 39, listed.

I. Porto, N. Krymov. Izbrannye proizvedeniia, 1984, No. 29, illustrated and listed.

I. Porto, Nikolai Krymov. Katalog-rezone. Zhivopis, grafika, teatr, Moscow, Iskusstvo-XXI vek, 2009, p. 69, No. 111, illustrated and listed.



Nikolai Krymov’s landscape Before the Rain, now offered for auction, marks one of the most important stages in the artist’s oeuvre. The work was painted in 1911, when his studies at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture had come to an end, and Krymov, already a fully-fledged painter, widely known and enjoying public recognition, was selected to represent the achievements of contemporary Russian art at an international exhibition in Rome alongside Alexander Benois, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Evgeny Lanceray, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Igor Grabar and others. Krymov was himself something of a “Roman” by then, fascinated as he was by the classical landscapes of the 17th century. His ideal, somewhat theatrical landscapes, with their symmetrical wide-branching treetops, are inspired by the classical tradition and call to mind the outstanding masters of the early 17th century who worked in Rome — Nicolas Poussin, Claude Lorrain and Gaspard Dughet.



By making use of this stylistic canon and synthesising it with the decorativeness of a tapestry, the naivete of primitive art and the conventions of a theatrical scene, Krymov achieves a surprisingly modern effect in the composition of Before the Rain. He is no longer in the least dependent on the Russian school of landscape painting, spurning all literal adherence to nature, and reinvents his landscape afresh, combining his observations from real life with distinctly ornamental principles. This will subsequently come to be the hallmark of an artist who instructed his pupils: “Never paint a picture from studies. Paint the studies, examine nature so as to get to know it, but, when starting on the painting, put them right away and paint from inside yourself.” It comes as no surprise that, after seeing Krymov’s works, the eminent Russian art historian Pavel Muratov wrote in 1910: “Particular attention should be paid to this young artist by those who have an interest in the future of Russian landscapes. His works definitely belong to a new era in our landscape painting already.”



Before the Rain shows a kind of “Russian Arcadia”, in which to the ideal harmony of a natural scene is reflected by the clear, balanced, classical structure of the composition, the spatial construction of which is based on an alternation of light and dark masses of landscape, the sharpness of the outlines of the trees, the applique like quality of the colour planes and the use of a particular colour effect to convey a sky before a rainfall whereby it looks “condensed”. Mighty trees, like the side scenes of a theatre, hem in a humble country bridge. Depth in the canvas is achieved by a luminous sky that shines through the crowns of the trees and by the sunny glade in the far distance. It seems like the canvas of a theatre backdrop, with remote expanses painted on it, has been stretched behind the foreground, with its stage-prop bridge and timber side-scenes.



The sunlight falling abruptly from above not only lights up the glade and the treetops, but also sculpts their dimensions. Hence there is a natural contrast between the brightly-lit trees and the shaded ones, while the long shadows that cut across the bridge, and the dark foreground further intensify the theatrically classical nature of the composition. Very typical too is the artist’s use of the staffage female figure standing motionless on the bridge: her bright skirt prevents her from blending in with the shade. Krymov’s human characters — random wayfarers, hunters with dogs, and peasants — are just as conventional in his pictures as the classical landscape figures, which are meant to demonstrate visually the universal harmony of man’s indissoluble link with nature.
Address of auction MacDougall Arts Ltd.
63 New Cavendish St.
W1G 7LP London
United Kingdom
Preview
06.06.2018 – 06.06.2018
Phone +44 20 7389 8160
Phone +7 495 799 4683
Fax +44 (0) 20 7389 8170
Email
4FQ.3FGKQHSRRSIHFPQS4@3SGAAHL@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.