Oleg Vassiliev

Oleg Vassiliev, The Past Isn't Dead. It Isn't Even Past, University Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2000, p. 17, illustrated

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 appears to be in original condition. It is stretched on the original stretcher and is not lined or reinforced. There is a small patch on the reverse in the lower left corner addressing a small paint loss beneath the inscription. Elsewhere, it seems more than likely that there are no restorations or damages. This picture should be hung as is with no varnish or restoration.
"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."

Vassiliev's art is closely linked with that of his friend Eric Bulatov. Beginning in the early 1960s, Vassiliev began illustrating children's books with Bulatov, a fellow nonconformist artist, who is depicted in By the Campfire, 1962. Collaborating for six months a year allowed Vassiliev to support himself and to devote the rest of his time to painting. While in Moscow, Bulatov's and Vassiliev's studios were side by side, and the two saw each other almost every day for many years. But in 1989, in the period leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Bulatov moved to Paris, while Vassiliev left for New York in 1990. That separation affected how Vassiliev came to remember his friends and past life.

By the Campfire, 1962 captures the artist's memories of himself and his artist friends. The work relates to Vassiliev's 1996 triptych, Déjeuner sur l'herbe, which was inspired by Monet's painting of the same title. The former work consists of three paintings: Déjeuner sur l'herbe After Claude Monet, 1866; By the Campfire, 1962; and By the Campfire, Self-Portrait, 1962. Vassiliev used faded old black-and-white photographs taken more than thirty years earlier during walks around Moscow with Eric Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov, and Mikhail Mezheninov. Vassiliev has described how those walks, usually taken in late spring or early fall, enabled the artist-friends to shift their focus away from the material world and mundane existence toward a state in which they could unburden their minds and focus on painting ideas.

Separated spatially and psychologically in this painting from his former life in Moscow, Vassiliev transposed the friend's outings to nighttime, and made the light appear mysterious. In By the Campfire, 1962, Vassiliev created a portrait of Bulatov that is infused with luminosity and a poetic spirit. Dried flowers, usually associated with lovers and memory books, are here meant to recall the days when Vassiliev and Bulatov worked together for children's publishers.

Vassiliev has recalled that he painted Around the Campfire, 1962 after Bulatov's work Danger (1972-73), which features a couple sitting on the grass near a small river surrounded on four sides by a sign featuring the word "danger" in large letters.