ID 326898
Lot 15* | VERESHCHAGIN, VASILY VASILIEVICH
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 40 000
Iconostasis of the Church of St John the Evangelist on the Ishnya River near Rostov Yaroslavsky
Provenance: Vassili Verestchagin Collection, American Art Galleries, New York, 17–18 November 1891, lot 68.
Acquired at the above sale by an oil tycoon Silas H. Paine, USA.
Private collection, USA.
A gift from the above to the present owner c. 2000.
Private collection, USA.
Exhibited: L'exposition des œuvres Nouvelles de Vassili Vereschagin, Cercle artistique et littéraire, Paris, April 1888.
Exhibition of the Works of Vassili Verestchagin, itinerant: New York (American Art Galleries), Chicago (Chicago Art Institute), Philadelphia (The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts), St Louis, Baltimore, Boston, etc, 1888–1889, No. 100.
Vassili Verestchagin Collection, American Art Galleries, New York, November 1891, No. 68 (stamp on the reverse and label on the stretcher).
Literature: Possibly, V. Stasov, “Vystavka Vereschagina v Parizhe”, Novosti i birzhevaia gazeta, No. 121, 3 May, 1888, p. 2, mentioned in the text.
Exhibition catalogue, Exhibition of the Works of Vassili Verestchagin, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue, New York, American Art Galleries, 1888, p. 64, No. 100, listed.
Vassili Verestchagin Collection, Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue, New York, American Art Association, 1891, p. 44, No. 68, listed.
“The Verestchagin Sale: Livelier Bidding on the Second Evening – The Prices Realized”, The New York Times, 19 November 1891, p. 5, listed.
F. Bulgakov, V. V. Vereschagin i ego proizvedeniia, St Petersburg, Tipografiia A. S. Suvorina, 1896, p. 75, listed.
Vassili Verestchagin Collection, Nordestedt, Hanse, reprint of: New York, American Art Association, 1891, p. 44, No. 68, listed.
Iconostasis of the Church of St John the Evangelist on the Ishnya River near Rostov Yaroslavsky is, perhaps, the most spectacular of the paintings of the interior of the ancient wooden church that Vereschagin produced during his stay in Rostov the Great in the winter of 1887-1888. The artist created three versions of the interior, two of which now adorn the collection of the State Russian Museum, while the third is now presented for auction at MacDougall’s.
When preparing for a landmark exhibition in Paris that was extremely important to him, the artist set off on a journey to Rostov and its environs late in 1887 in search of images for a series of works about Russia. Day after day, Vereschagin travelled to the small village of Bogoslov, a mile or so to the southwest of the town, where he worked keenly on views of the wooden church of St John the Evangelist, which he found particularly enticing. The old, austere interior of the church, built in 1687, impressed the artist far more than the building’s outward appearance. Vereschagin was especially attracted by the four-tiered iconostasis with its ornamentation, time-darkened icons and carved, gilded Royal Doors, the work of the 16th-century Rostov woodcarver and monk Isaia. Depicted from different angles on two of the three canvasses that Vereschagin painted in the church, the iconostasis creates a picturesque image of Russian antiquity, in which the skilfully constructed composition and the subdued radiance of the chandelier and icon oklady generate a literally physical sense of time, frozen in the gloom of the church’s interior.
The artist left Rostov in February 1888, and the works he created there managed to reach Paris in March to appear at his solo exhibition, which opened on 1st April at the Artistic and Literary Circle (Cercle artistique et littéraire). Vereschagin’s exhibition was such a resounding success that the French press acclaim even reached Russia. In particular, Stasov drew up a survey of fifty Parisian reviews, in which he cited a comment by a writer in Le Parisien who was excited inter alia by the “priceless iconostasis” and “the inside” of the Church of St John the Evangelist on the Ishnya.
Vereschagin’s exhibition was expanded when it moved from Paris to New York, where its fame proved to be even greater than in France. Its subsequent triumphal progress through the United States ended back in New York in November 1891 with a grand auction both of the artist’s works and of items from his collection of antiquities and folk art.
The painting Iconostasis of the Church of St John the Evangelist on the Ishnya River near Rostov Yaroslavsky was acquired by the American oil tycoon Silas Paine, a director of Standard Oil, which was at that time a monopoly in the US oil industry. It may have been the religious subject that prompted Silas Paine, an ardent Christian, to purchase the picture, which was owned by him for a long time and is now to be auctioned.
The present lot as listed in 1891 publication.
Artist: | Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin (1842 - 1904) |
---|---|
Auction house category: | Russian art |
Artist: | Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin (1842 - 1904) |
---|---|
Auction house category: | Russian art |
Address of auction |
MacDougall Arts Ltd. 33 St James’s Square SW1Y 4JS London United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Preview |
| ||||||||||||||
Phone | +44 20 7389 8160 | ||||||||||||||
Phone | +7 495 799 4683 | ||||||||||||||
Fax | +44 (0) 20 7389 8170 | ||||||||||||||
Buyer Premium | 27 % | ||||||||||||||
Conditions of purchase | Conditions of purchase | ||||||||||||||
Business hours | Business hours
|
More from Creator
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.