Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova

Grosvenor Gallery, London
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York

Moscow, Art Salon, Natalia Goncharova 1900-1913, August - September 1913, Cat.No. 485
St. Petersburg, Art Studio of N.E. Dobychina, Natalia Goncharova 1900-1913, April - 3 May 1914, Cat.No. 68
Paris, Galerie Paul Guillaume, Natalie de Gontcharowa et Michel Larionow, 17 -30 June 1914, Cat.No. 2 (incorrectly dated 1907)
Paris, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Gontcharova-Larionov, September - November 1963, Cat.No. 7 (incorrectly dated 1907)
London, Grosvenor Gallery, Aspects of Russian Experimental Art 1900-1925, 24 October - 18 November 1967, Cat.No. 25 (incorrectly dated 1907)
London, Annely Juda Fine Art, Partners, 24 June - 18 September 1993, Cat.No. 15

E.Eganbury, List of works of Natalia Gontcharova 1900-1913, Moscow, 1913, p.IX listed under 1910 (illustrated)
M.Chamot, Gontcharova, Paris: La Bibliothèque des Arts, 1972, p.26, listed p.137 (illustrated)
D.Gordon, Modern Art Exhibitions 1900-1916, Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1974, vol II, pp.736, 815, 850
M.Chamot, Goncharova Stage Designs and Paintings, London: Oresko Books Limited, 1979, p.45, No. 22 titled Bouquet and Peaches

Structural Condition The artist's canvas has been laid onto a wooden panel. This is ensuring an even and secure structral support but is perhaps not the most sympathic method of structural conservation and the removal of the canvas from the board, followed by lining onto a secondary canvas, could be considered. It should be stressed, however, that this is not required for reasons of conservation. Paint Surface The paint surface has fine fracture lines running in from the turnover edges and this is presumably why the canvas was attached to the panel. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows a few retouchings, the most significant of which are: 1) in the yellow of the background in the upper left quadrant, 2) lines and dots in the red pigment to the left of the vase, 3) in the red pigment in the lower right quadrant, near the right vertical framing edge, and in the lower right corner, and 4) quite large areas in the yellow pigment beneath the fruit. These retouchings are clearly crudely applied and excessive. Summary The painting therefore appears to be in good and stable condition but has been rather unsympathically treated in the past and could benefit from the removal and replacement, where necessary, of retouchings. I am confident that this would reduce the amount of retouching on the paint surface. Removal of the canvas from the board could also be considered
"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."

Still life with Red Flowers and Peaches is an important work from the early Russian avant-garde period of which Natalia Goncharova was a key player.  Probably dating from 1910, although certain art historians have dated it as early in 1907, this is one of the artist's first still lifes in oil. However already it is possible to see the characteristic elements of her style: solid form, sculptural clarity, simplified line, and striking colours inspired by Russian lubki. 

Goncharova painted still lives throughout her entire career, setting them up herself in her studio. She had studied botany in her youth and always remained fond of the subject.  The offered work is a typical still life from Goncharova's earliest artistic period, when she was discovering contemporary French painting for the first time.

In 1906 the review Iskusstvo, of which Mikhail Larionov was the editor, introduced Russians to contemporary French painting by publishing photographs of works by Cézanne, Van Gogh and Gauguin.  The works of the latter in particular were a great inspiration to Goncharova from around 1907.  She believed Gauguin to be amongst those who truly understood the purpose of art. As she explained her artistic vision in 1911.

"One must fuse what is foreign with what is one's own.  Only in this way can one create the essential surge that drives art forward.  Paul Gauguin is not simply a naturalised Tahitian, nor is he simply French.  He is a cultivated Frenchman who has adopted a culture that is alien to him, the primitive culture of the Tahitians."

Examining the work of Gauguin offers us an insight into Goncharova's artistic approach. In Still Life with Red Flowers and Peaches it is possible to detect the technique which Gauguin employed in his painting Still Life with Grapefruits from 1901 (fig.1). The background has been treated as if it were painted paper, becoming an integral part of the work and not merely a flat block of colour behind the foreground.  As in Gauguin's work, although the line is simplified, each stroke of colour plays an important role.

Indeed, colour is another subject which fascinated Goncharova in the 1910s.  She was interested in the work of the French Fauvist painters, who advocated using colour to create paintings without a political agenda or disturbing subject-matter, which would satisfy the "the mind of the intellectual as much as that of the worker."  In this painting, colour constitutes the message.  The subject is very simple and refined, allowing the viewer to concentrate on the striking colours, giving the work a decorative value.

The composition of the painting also brings to mind Gauguin, notably Still Life with Sunflowers and Mangoes also from 1901 (fig.2). The three mangoes are positioned like the three peaches in this painting, and in both pictures the one in the foreground is darker than the two others. The influence of Gauguin's Tahitian œuvre is clearly evident here, even in the way that the bouquet of flowers extends slightly out of the frame in both pictures.  The influence of this still life by Gauguin is also apparent in another canvas by Goncharova, The Sunflowers, which dates from the same period (fig.3).

Still Life with Red Flowers and Peaches is a fine example of the effect which the study of Gauguin's paintings had on Goncharova.  It is a clear and simple image whose vivid colours are inspired by the Fauves. Like Gauguin, Goncharova was inspired by a foreign culture, but in her case, the French one, and integrated this into her experiences of Russia to realise art which was "great and useful".