LEVITSKY, PETR - photo 1
LEVITSKY, PETR - photo 1

LEVITSKY, PETR

Lot 14
30.05.2020 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 23 400
AuctioneerMacDougall Arts Ltd.
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premium27 %
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 326897
Lot 14 | LEVITSKY, PETR
Estimate value
£ 20 000 – 30 000
Portrait of Alexander Stakhiev

signed, inscribed “pinxit” and dated 1818.

Provenance: Collection of Baroness von Mirbach, Latvia and Germany, 1940s.
Thence by descent.
Collection of an engineer and architect Leon Dietz D’Arma, Poland (plaques on the backing board).

Authenticity certificate from the expert S. Podstanitsky.

Literature: Leon Dietz, O neizvestnom portrete Levitskogo i liubvi romanticheskoi, manuscript, early XX century, The State Hermitage Museum, The Research Library, TS93.2.178, mentioned in the text.
N. Gershenson-Chegodaeva, Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky, Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1964, p. 379, mentioned in the text.
N. Moleva, Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky, Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1980, pp. 12–13, 222–224, mentioned in the text, Nos. 42, 43 and 44, illustrated.
Gosudarstvennyi Russkiy muzei. Zhivopis’. Pervaya polovina XIX veka. Katalog (K–Ya) , vol. 3, almanac, issue 193, St Petersburg, Palace Editions, 2007, p. 55, mentioned in the text.

The Portrait of Alexander Stakhiev, painted in 1818, boasts an exceptional provenance and illustration history, having been reproduced in several influential publications. Moreover, it is a unique artefact of its time, holding a key to one of the most intriguing literary mysteries of the epoch of sentimentalism.

The first to identify the mysterious sitter was the Polish intellectual, Leon Dietz. After World War II he wrote an article about this portrait, which he happened to inherit from Baroness von Mirbach, who had fled the Baltics in 1944 and settled in Germany. The article manuscript, which used to be kept in the library of the Hermitage, sheds light on the truly fascinating history of this portrait.

The stylish sitter, sporting prominent sideburns, dressed in a frock coat with an embroidery-trimmed waistcoat and a flamboyant tie in the early XIX century fashion, was the son of Alexander Stakhiev, an influential diplomat under Catherine the Great. Following his father’s career advice, Stakhiev the younger also enrolled in diplomatic service, accompanying his father on a posting to Constantinople as early as 1779. He was then promoted to Court Counsellor, and as secretary to Baron Alexei Krüdener, Russia’s special envoy to Denmark, he was posted to Copenhagen. When Stakhiev sat for the portrait, he had already been made Collegiate Counsellor and decorated with two prestigious orders: a Bronze medal in commemoration of the 1812 Civil War and the Order of St Vladimir, 4th grade, both of which are clearly visible in the portrait.

Stakhiev holds a volume of a then-popular novel Valérie, which references a famous love story connected with Stakhiev: whilst in the service of Krüdener, he became infatuated with the Baron’s young wife Julia Krüdener, née Viettinghoff, a great-granddaughter of the renowned Russian field marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich. The affair proved the downfall of Stakhiev, who had to hand in his resignation and quit the Russian mission. Julia Krüdener, who was widowed in 1802, made a foray into literature and in Paris, 1803, published a novel in French entitled Valérie, which was based on their liaison.

The art historian Nina Moleva, who has traced the history of the portrait, argued that it was commissioned from Levitsky during Julia Krüdener’s sojourn in Russia in 1818 and later inherited by her daughter, Juliette von Bernheim, before going back to her mother’s family, one of the branches of the Viettinghoff lineage.
Auction house category:Russian art
Address of auction MacDougall Arts Ltd.
33 St James’s Square
SW1Y 4JS London
United Kingdom
Preview
30.05.2020 – 30.07.2020
Phone +44 20 7389 8160
Phone +7 495 799 4683
Fax +44 (0) 20 7389 8170
Email
4FQ.3FGKQHSRRSIHFPQS4@3SGAAHL@
Buyer Premium 27 %
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 10:00 – 18:00   
Tu 10:00 – 18:00   
We 10:00 – 18:00   
Th 10:00 – 18:00   
Fr 10:00 – 18:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Related terms

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.
?>