Alexandre Iacovleff

Hammer Galleries, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1956

Paris, l'Hôtel Charpentier, Alexandre Iacovleff, May-June 1933

This painting on a large piece of brown paper mounted onto wood is in surprisingly good condition. The paper has cracked in the background in the center right immediately to the left of one of the heads, not because the paper was under pressure but because the board behind was slightly unstable. There is a similar slight crack in the head of one of the figures in the center left. However, these two cracks and corresponding cracks of approximately the same length, about six inches along the bottom edge, are the only structural issues to this work. The wax crayon and gouache used by the artist is in very healthy and undamaged state. While the painted area of the picture, i.e. the background behind and around the sides of the figures, may have acidified and darkened slightly over time, the painted colors are all beautifully preserved. There appear to be no paint losses, except for a diagonal scrape in the center of the painting running about 1 ½ inches, a small mark in the lower right quadrant and the aforementioned minor tears to the paper. Although the reinforcement on the reverse of plywood and the stretcher supporting it seem to be quite effective, some thought will have to be given to the breaks in the paper to ensure that the wood behind is stable. 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 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."

Alexander Iacovleff was one of the leading representatives of the late Mir Iskusstva society, which he joined in 1912. Mir Iskusstva was originally founded in 1898 by Alexander Benois, Konstantin Somov and Leon Bakst, among others, and leading members of the group soon developed their own cultural publication, overseen by Serge Diaghilev. They sought to synthesize artistic disciplines and educate the masses in artistic tradition and progress, paving the way for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, which they considered the ultimate apotheosis of the arts of the early 20th century. The society's refined modernist aesthetic played a pivotal role in influencing Iacovleff's developing style, which was classic in technique but exceptionally rich in color.

While most of his contemporaries were travelling to the more typical European destinations such as France, Italy and Spain, Iacovleff trekked through the Orient, documenting his travels in countless notebooks which were filled with sketches and paintings of the people he encountered along the way. Escaping the revolution and funded by the St. Petersburg Academy, Iacovleff departed for his first trip to the Far East in 1917. His travels abroad prompted an inherent change in his artistic direction, distinguishing him from his Russian counterparts, though his inimitable technical skill for capturing likeness of character remained constant throughout his oeuvre. Such mastery led more than one critic to compare him to John Singer Sargent, and it allowed Iacovleff to convey his foreign subjects in a familiar way, creating a unique tension that prevailed throughout much of his repertoire.  As one viewer explained after seeing Iacovleff's works on view at the Galerie Barbazanges in 1920, "Without any attempt at neo-Orientalism, with no endeavor to imitate or evoke Eastern art forms, the pictures...represented Chinese scenes and people...the life of the streets and of the country, figures and landscapes. Purity in execution, the uncompromising character of the masterly drawing, the clean intensity of the vivid colors...No concession of the slightest order was made to change, no claim made on any faculty save that of sheer accomplishment" (M. Ciolkowska, "Iacovleff—Civilized Painter," International Studio, 1922).

His first journey to Peking and the Far East instilled in Iacovleff an insatiable hunger for travel and adventure, and he went on to become the official artist for Georges-Marie Haardt's Citroën-sponsored expeditions, crossing Africa in 1925 and returning to the Far East in 1931. Such extensive travels to these regions were considered unprecedented for an artist at this time, and from them Iacovleff produced an astounding repertoire which crosses both geographical and artistic boundaries, allowing the viewer a glimpse into fascinating, exotic journeys from a bygone era of exploration. The latter of these two expeditions, La Croisière Jaune, began in April 1931 and spanned countries and regions that included Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, the foothills of the Himalayas, China and Indochina. Iacovleff played a seminal role in the preparation of this journey and sketched and painted continuously throughout its duration, culminating in over 500 works of art.

The present, monumental lot, representing a group of lamas at Pei Ling Miao lamasery, was executed in the final stretch of La Croisière Jaune, during the first week of February in 1932 and just one month before Haardt's unexpected death in Hong Kong. Records and journals kept by the explorers offer a vivid description of this stretch of their journey, and particularly of their meeting with the lama Gai Ming:

The Land of Herbs lies to the North of Pao Tou. Suddenly, the lamasery of Pei Ling Miao materializes, exposing a myriad of monastic cells. Decorated with gold and blue faience, this magical city shelters two thousand Tibetan monks. (Caroline Haardt de la Baume, Alexandre Iacovleff: L'artiste Voyageur, p. 138)

We are a little farther from the West, a little closer to the Pacific, in this lamasery of Pei Ling Miao, where fortunately this morning sun reigns over the Mongolian plateau without wind...

Squatting on cushions in the yurt, we scrutinize Gai Ming, a young lama with dark, fiery eyes who fingers through the amber of his beads. He thanks us for our salutations; he reminds us that, during our first passage to Pei Ling Miao, collective prayers were made for the success of our expedition...

This first courteous exchange (ask and answer) lasts six minutes. The lama speaks in Tibetan to his secretary who translates into Mongolian. Gumbo, our interpreter, repeats each sentence in Chinese to Petro, who delivers it to us in French. Although the dialogue requires three intermediaries, we are enlivened by our great desire to understand one another. What to say? Gai Ming, having offered us tea with butter, remains as motionless as an idol in his flowing robe of silk brocade. But Hackin slips him a paper that he has just covered with Tibetan characters, and at once the monk stares at it with an intense astonishment...

'Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad,' says Gai Ming gravely, 'are three emanations of the same divine source. When you see the reflection of the moon in a pond or a well, you think there are two, three moons. In truth, are they not all one and the same?' (Georges Le Fèvre, "Vers Pékin," L'Illustration, no. 4665, July 30, 1932, p. 420)

Much of Iacovleff's output from this adventure, along with documentary photographs and various textiles and tools, was later exhibited at the 1932 L'Exposition Citroën at the Place de l'Europe in Paris thereby introducing various cultures, customs and diverse landscapes that were wholly unfamiliar in the West at that time. All of Iacovleff's related works, including larger scale drawings and paintings he executed from sketches after returning to Paris, such as the present lot, were hung in his exhibition at l'Hôtel Charpentier in 1933. These works all illustrate his tremendous facility as a draughtsman and underscore his uncanny ability to capture likeness and character. From the proud horsemen of Aghans to the Buddhist priests of Un Groupe de Lamas, Iacovleff's artistic wizardry led critics to describe his Croisière Jaune output as his most accomplished and astonishing.