PETROV-VODKIN, KUZMA (1878-1939) - photo 1
PETROV-VODKIN, KUZMA (1878-1939) - photo 1

PETROV-VODKIN, KUZMA (1878-1939)

Lot 28
07.06.2017 12:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 400 000
AuctioneerMacDougall Arts Ltd.
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premium27 %
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1401
Lot 28 | PETROV-VODKIN, KUZMA (1878-1939)
Estimate value
£ 400 000
PETROV-VODKIN, KUZMA (1878-1939)


Portrait of an African Boy, inscribed “Biskra” and dated 1907.
Oil on canvas, 48.5 by 36.5 cm.

400,000-600,000 GBP


Provenance: Collection of Alexander Gidoni (1885–1943), an art historian and writer, St Petersburg.
Collection of Lev Loitsiansky (1900–1991), a Soviet scientist, Leningrad.
Icons, Russian Pictures and Works of Art, Sotheby’s London, 15 December 1994, lot 66.

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

Exhibited: Salon. 1908–1909, Kadetskii korpus, St Petersburg, January 1909.
Vystavka proizvedenii zasluzhennogo deiatelia iskusstv RSFSR K. S. Petrova-Vodkina. 1879–1939, The State Russian Museum, Leningrad, 1966.
Russkoe iskusstvo XVIII–nachala XX veka iz chastnykh sobranii Leningrada, Tsentralnyi vstavochnyi zal “Manezh”, Leningrad, 1988 (label on the stretcher).

Literature: Exhibition catalogue, Salon. 1908–1909, St Petersburg, 1909, No. 247, listed as Negritenok (Vozhak za Semikryloi).
A. Rostislavov, “Zhivopis Petrova-Vodkina”, Apollon, No. 3, 1915, p. 21, listed as Negritenok (Vozhak za Semikryloi).
A. Galushkina, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, Moscow, Gosudatstvennoe izdatelstvo izobrazitelnykh iskusstv–OGIZ, 1936, p. 66, listed as Negritenok (Vozhak za Semikryloi).
Exhibition catalogue, N. Barabanova (ed.), Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin. 1878–1939, Leningrad–Moscow, 1966, p. 18, listed as Negritenok.
Exhibition catalogue, Russkoe iskusstvo XVIII–nachala XX veka iz chastnykh sobranii Leningrada, Leningrad, Khudozhnik RSFSR, 1988, p. 40, listed as Negritenok.

The Portrait of an African Boy featured in this catalogue belongs to a series of works that Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin painted in 1907 during a two-month trip to Algeria and Tunisia. This expressive, rather intimate image of a child was created during the artist's visit to Biskra, a town in northern Algeria. The work’s colour scheme seems to have literally soaked up the heat of the blazing African sun, the aroma from the local bakeries and the variety of colour in the Berber and Arab fabrics, the rhythmic pattern of which is associated with the measured beating of Berber drums and castanets. The image of the boy not only captivates one by its reverence and the impressionistic lack of constraint; it also constitutes a splendid example of a mood portrait that has conveyed to the modern viewer, through the surprised look of an inquisitive child, the fabulously alluring atmosphere of a remote ethnic group.

Petrov-Vodkin’s Tunisian and Algerian works, executed in oils, are encountered extremely rarely in private collections, and their value is obvious. The artist only created a few paintings from the sketches and watercolours of 1907 that he brought back from Africa. The Portrait of an African Boy, painted from life, holds a special place in that group.

The work’s provenance is also noteworthy. The portrait used to be in the collection of the eminent art historian and writer Alexander Gidoni, and later formed part of the collection of the distinguished Soviet scientist Lev Loitsiansky. The work has a commendable exhibition history and has been published several times – an unquestionable indication of the museum quality of this magnificent canvas.

Petrov-Vodkin is arguably one of the most interesting Russian artists of the 20th century. His progressive discoveries in spatial and compositional structure ushered into the figurative pictorial art of the modern era the avantgarde ideas that still influence the creative work of many painters and graphic artists today. The system formulated by the colouristic vision of Petrov-Vodkin’s “three-colour spectrum” substantially transformed the palette of a whole community of the young artists of his time, providing many of them with wonderful opportunities for exploring new avenues in figurative art. The concepts of Petrov-Vodkin’s circle and the Petrov-Vodkin school now form an established part of the common usage of art historians. “Nowadays no one seems to be any longer in doubt that, in Petrov-Vodkin, Russian and Soviet art had a master of vast scope, profoundly unconventional and original, an artist and philosopher who strove to understand and bring to life in his art a person, an object, an occurrence or the universe in all their complexity and depth. It is precisely such people, rare by the very nature of their talent, who more than all others carry forward the artistic cognition of the world,” wrote Yury Rusakov, an expert on the artist’s work.
Address of auction MacDougall Arts Ltd.
33 St James’s Square
SW1Y 4JS London
United Kingdom
Preview
01.06.2017 – 07.06.2017
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

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.
?>
×
Save this search query and get timely email alerts! It is simple and very effective.
bremer silberwaren-fabrik ag
Create a Search Subscription