PETR PETROVICH KONCHALOVSKY | Yellow Dacha, Kuntsevo

A gift from Konchalovsky to the artist Nikolai Nikolaevich Antipin (b.1931)
Private collection
Sotheby's London, Russian Evening Sale, 24 November 2008, lot 31
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Konchalovsky. Khudozhestvennoe nasledie, Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1964, p.103 listed as zhi 268

The canvas has been strip-lined and there are remains of paper along the tacking edges. There are abrasions along all four edges with paint losses in places. Areas of craquelure and paint shrinkage are found throughout the composition. Some of the cracks are slightly raised with some associated paint loss. These are mostly limited to the tree on the left side of the composition. There is a fleck of paint loss towards the centre, several flecks of paint loss to the black pigment outlining the tree trunk in the lower right as well as further minor losses elsewhere. The surface is covered in a light layer of dirt with spots in places. There is a small area in the upper right where paper has become stuck to the paint surface. Inspection under UV light reveals scattered retouching to the crown of the tree in the upper left, another small area of retouching to the tree trunk in the lower right, to the sky in the centre, several small retouchings in the lower left as well scattered retouching elsewhere. Held in a gold painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

A popular summer resort since the early 19^th century, Kuntsevo attracted a great many Muscovite painters, writers and composers, among them Leo Tolstoy, Alexei Savrasov and Petr Tchaikovsky. Pavel Tretyakov, the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery, owned a dacha there. In 1919 Konchalovsky spent a summer in Kuntsevo, executing a series of landscapes en plein air which includes the present lot. ‘When I was studying under Konchalovsky', recalled Alexander Labas, ‘he invited me to his dacha in Kuntsevo. That exciting day remained etched in my memory. He showed me his paintings. […] They left a deep impression on me’ (A.Labas, Vospominaniya, 2004, p.70). According to the dedication on the reverse, the present lot was given to the artist Nikolai Antipin who was Konchalovsky’s student between 1949 and 1953.