Oleg Tselkov

A gift from the artist to the poet Lev Loseff (1937-2009) in the late 1950s 
Thence by descent to the present owner

Original canvas which is very uneven in the lower right corner particularly. There is a layer of surface dirt, the varnish discoloured and there are lines of craquelure throughout, some raised. There are areas of flaking an paint loss, notably to the top right corner, the lower left edge, the lower edge and in scattered places throughout the composition, revealing a purple undercoat: to the top right corner; to the central section of white paint on the right hand side; between the two goldfish and in several places elsewhere. UV light reveals no apparent signs of retouching. Held in a simple black wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

On finishing the present painting in 1957, Oleg Tselkov summoned a group of friends including Lev Loseff to join him on the banks of the Neva to witness a kind of baptismal ceremony for Goldfish, which he proceeded to dip into the river water. Loseff would later emigrate to the United States, where he became an eminent poet, professor of Russian literature and close friend of Joseph Brodsky.