Alexei Petrovich Bogoliubov

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in very respectable condition. The canvas has been lined recently. A transparent window on the reverse reveals the inscription on the original canvas. The paint layer is cleaned and varnished. The only retouching of any significance is to a diagonal scratch in the sky to the left of the Campanelli, the tower in the middle of the painting. Elsewhere, we are unaware of any restorations of any note and feel that the picture is in very good state.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

...Then came a warm Venetian evening, and the full moon swam out as if on purpose, and the night fell like a curtain, and I liked Venice even more... Everything was covered in a thin blue haze.  I jumped into a gondola and was taken to the Customs House. There I sat for a long time on a marble staircase...  My first sketch was done by the River—with the Doge's Palace in the foreground. It was difficult, very difficult, not only to draw, but to capture the detail of this intricate building... I struck my plumed brush to draw all of the columns, capitals, and cornices of the palace and all of the surrounding buildings, making drawings as large as a whole sheet, so that in a way it even taught me how to draw architecture more freely; something for which I always had a strong passion. These drawings could be seen through 400 examples, composing most of the St. Petersburg Academy collection. Then, I completed sketches of the church with the canal, and travelled to the Lido Island to draw the sea.  I drew it several times from the viewpoint of the public garden in Venice.  For two months I worked arduously...  Her [Venice's] beauty had such a profound effect on me and cut itself into my memory so deeply that I drew her many times in many different ways, and will continue to draw her for the rest of my life, regardless of the fact that newspapers have cursed me for doing so. Living in Russia, one will produce images of Russia; I have been and will continue to do so.  But why, after drawing Venice, does one become a such a scoundrel?... Seeing as not one of my creations stayed with me, I was always capable of producing images that I could sell even more profitably abroad (A.P. Bogoliubov, Notes of a Sailor-Artist, 1996, pp. 48-49).

Throughout his career, Bogoliubov depicted the poetic city of Venice many times—even during his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy he drew images of Venice which he borrowed from Italian engravings, and he later visited the city in 1854, 1863 and 1872.  His views of Venice were exhibited at Itinerant exhibitions, at academic exhibitions, and at exhibitions at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Furthermore, they were found in some of the most important collections of his time, including those of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich and Tereshchenko (see lot 45). In Paris in 1876, the artist completed four Venetian scenes for private collectors, and it is most likely that View of Venice. Customs House was among them. This work, the present lot, was completed in the artist's typical academic manner, and it confirms his talent for capturing light and mood with perfection.