Mikhail Fedorovich Larionov

Jacques Spreiregen (possibly acquired from the artist)

Private Collection, United Kingdom (a gift from the above)

Thence by descent to the present owners

Paris, Galerie Granoff, Collection d'un amateur, 1963, no. 38 (titled Vase de roses et serviette blanche)

The present work, as well as lot 17 also by Larionov, come from the collection of Jacques Spreiregen (1894-1982). Born into a Jewish family in Warsaw, Spreiregen first moved to Paris, and then, in 1914, to London. There, he entered the headwear business, importing berets from France. In 1938, Spreiregen opened the first Kangol factory in Cumbria, supplying berets to the British army during World War II. After the War, the company collaborated with designers such as Mary Quant, and produced a range of Beatles caps, before its berets were adopted by members of the American hip-hop community during the 1980s.

The success of his business allowed Spreiregen to put together a significant collection of Impressionist and Modern art, which included works by several Russian émigré artists such as Jean Pougny, Chaim Soutine and Mikhail Larionov. In 1960, the Jacques Spreiregen collection was exhibited at the Musée des Beaux Arts de Rouen. The catalogue for this exhibition, titled Choix d’un amateur, lists two oils and two works on paper by Larionov. In 1963, works from the Spreiregen collection were shown anonymously at the Galerie Granoff in Paris at an exhibition titled Collection d’un amateur. The exhibition featured seven oils by Larionov, including both paintings offered in this sale. The preface to the exhibition catalogue was written by Waldemar Georges, who would soon publish his monograph on Larionov. Spreiregen gifted both paintings to a relative and they have remained in the family ever since.

Still lives form a major part of Larionov’s oeuvre, covering his Impressionist, Primitivist as well as his French periods, of which the present work is a particularly successful example. Here, the artist integrated several of his own works, nudes as well as a portrait, into the composition.