David Shterenberg

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in beautiful condition. The canvas is unlined. The paint layer is stable and in beautiful state. The paint layer is most likely clean and there appear to be no retouches. The picture should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

David Shterenberg trained at the Académie Vitti between 1906 and 1912. He exhibited regularly at the Paris Salon d'Automne and interacted with the most experimental artists and theoreticians of the early twentieth century at the illustrious Café Rotonde, where émigrés including Chaim Soutine, Jacques Lipchitz, Guillaume Apollinaire exchanged ideas.

The flourishing pluralism in the visual arts during the first decade of the twentieth century facilitated Shterenberg's distinct approach to rendering objects in space.  Static objects become animated through his dynamic use of color and form, and the splintered brushwork of the Post-impressionists melds with the Cubist's fragmentation of space in the present work. Throughout his career, Shterenberg emphasized the purity of shape and form, free from heavy-handed political or social overtones.

The present still life illustrates the deeply-rooted Post-impressionistic influence in Shterenberg's oeuvre. The flowers are set against a static, seamless backdrop, uniting the foreground and background, evoking a simultaneous intimacy and complexity similar to still life compositions of Cézanne. Unlike Shterenberg's earlier works, which are abundant with Cubist experimentation and harsh lines and angles, this work is more representational and elegant.