Lot 408
  • 408

Nicholai Alexandrovich Tarkhov

Estimate
300,000 - 400,000 USD
Log in to view results
bidding is closed

Description

  • Nikolai Alexandrovich Tarkhov
  • Paris, circa 1901
  • signed Tarkhoff (lower left); also signed Tarkhoff (on the reverse)
  • oil on canvas
  • 39 1/8 by 23 7/8 in.
  • 99.5 by 60.5 cm

Provenance

Geneva, Le Petit Palais, No. 15995

Exhibited

Ahlen, Kunst Museum, Nicolas Tarkhoff, Impressionen eines russischen Malers in Paris, August-October, 1999
Moscow, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Nicolas Tarkhoff, 2003
V. Byalik, Nicolas Tarkhoff, Moscow, 2006, pp. 46, 48, illustrated

Literature

Nicolas Tarkhoff, Impressionen eines russischen Malers in Paris, Ahlen, Kunst Museum, 1999, p. 29
Nicolas Tarkhoff, Moscow, The State Tretyakov Gallery, 2003, no. 113, p. 164
V. Byalik, Nicolas Tarkhoff, 2006, pp. 46, 48, illustrated

Catalogue Note

Nicolas Tarkhov moved to Paris in 1899, and he was immediately drawn to the bustle of its streets, the bright lights and roaring energy. At once, the "City of Lights" was his favorite subject, and his mesmerizing style suited that subject perfectly, for his rainbow-colored dashes and plunging perspective evoke a sort of musical frenzy that reflects the city's spirit.

The artist's progressive style was informed by Russian Impressionist Konstantin Korovin, and like Korovin, his success was unusually instantaneous; he entered his first public exhibition, the Salon des Indépendants, just two years after his immigration. Tarkhov and Korovin's Parisian street scenes later hung side by side, in the prestigious 1906 Salon d'Automne Russian exhibit organized by Sergei Diaghilev. The salon signified the debut of the much-lauded Fauvist movement, and as one of its most talented practitioners, Tarkhov received much attention from both collectors and dealers, including Ambroise Vollard, who offered to represent him.

Tarkhov's passion for the Parisian streets may have been boundless, but his time in Paris was short-lived. He soon married and moved to the South of France, where he passed his days in quietude. Thus the present lot captures an early yet crucial period of Tarkhov's career, for Paris epitomizes his youthful exuberance--the rapid brushwork and vibrant palette of a master who has his whole life ahead of him.