Lot 106
  • 106

Andrei Efimovich Martynov, 1768-1826

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Andrei Efimovich Martynov
  • View over the great lake and the Cameron gallery, tsarskoe Selo
  • signed with artist's monogram and dated 1815 l.l.
  • oil on canvas
  • 66 by 81cm., 26 by 32in.

Condition

The original canvas has been strip-lined. There are several old patches visible on the reverse. The paint surface is clean. There are fine lines of craquelure and paint shrinkage throughout. Uv light reveals two areas of repair to the tree which correspond to the aformentioned patches and further spots of retouching to the sky. Some infilling to the paint shrinkage.
"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."

Catalogue Note

The subject of the present oil painting is taken from one of Martynov's most celebrated series of landscapes, 'St Petersburg and its Environs', which consists of fifty watercolours, several now owned by the Tretyakov Gallery. He produced them at a period when there was a vogue in both art and literature for celebrating man's ability to improve nature, as exemplified in neo-classical panoramas. In 1815 the writer Batiushkov had published one of his most famous works, 'A short walk through the Academy of Arts', which laments the preference of Russian artists for 'dilapidated Paris and smoky London' to their native cities: 'Often I have watched with regret as they labour over the hot sky of Naples in the midst of a stinging frost, tormenting their imagination - and often our eyes'. Although Martynov had followed this well-trodden route to Italy where he studied for six years, he returned to Russia in 1794; the landscapes he produced between 1804 and 1810 of southern Russia, Mongolia and the Baltic regions remain some of his best. He was also one of the first Russian artists to master the technique of lithography, a media only recently developed in Bavaria.  

 

The Neo-Palladian Cameron Gallery depicted in the background of this picture was designed by the Scottish architect, Charles Cameron, towards the end of Catherine II's reign. The Catherine Palace was first built in 1717 by a German architect engaged by Catherine I, though subsequent empresses demolished and expanded the building to such a degree that in her memoirs Catherine II called it 'the work of Penelope: what was done today, was destroyed tomorrow'.