Paul Kotlarevsky, 1885-1950

Sotheby's New York, Arcade Modern and Contemporary Paintings, 30 June 1993, lot 33
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Oil on lined canvas. The surface is a little dirty though the colours appear fresh and vibrant. Flecks of minor paint loss have occurred to the upper right and upper left outer edges. There are also two small flecks of paint loss at lower left and lower right, and there are cracks in some places where the paint may be beginning to lift. Under UV certain pigments fluoresce, but there appears to be a light and uneven layer of varnish that prevents conclusive analysis. Held in a modern wood frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Paul Kotlarevsky was in France with his family at the time of the October Revolution in Russia. Having lost everything in his homeland, he decided to remain in Paris. As his law degree was not recognized there, he pursued his long term passion for art and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts. He befriended and worked along various artists including Charchoune, Le Fauconnier and Franscisco Bores.

Like many of his contemporaries, Kotlarevsky experimented with various styles but favored Cubism, to which he pays homage in the present lot. The roofs of the houses and mountain slopes look as if they aspire to become simple geometrical forms in nearly uniform patches of color. Harvest belongs to a group of paintings dedicated to seasonal work in the fields where man and horses work alongside machines, hinting at the popular fascination with industrialization. The interaction of natural and man-made objects is ironic: the mounds of grain take on a hill-like appearance next to the workers, while the steam from the threshing machine merges with the clouds in the sky.