Lot 111
  • 111

Ilya Efimovich Repin

Estimate
400,000 - 600,000 USD
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Description

  • Ilya Efimovich Repin
  • Portrait of the Violinist Cecile Hansen, circa 1922
  • signed in Cyrillic (lower left)
  • oil on board
  • 75 1/2 by 36 1/4 in.
  • 192 by 92 cm

Condition

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 lovely condition. It is painted on what appears to be a slightly textured artist board which has in turn been mounted. It is structurally in very robust condition. The paint layer seems to have been cleaned and lightly varnished. There appear to be hardly any retouches; certainly none are visible under ultraviolet light. The right edge is still visibly showing some old nail holes which presumably were a part of the original presentation. There is a slight belly or bubble to the board on the right side which could be attended to. Overall however, the picture is in very good state.
"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."

Catalogue Note

Cecile Hansen (1897-1989) finished the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and was a student of the famous violin player and conductor L.S. Auier (1845-1930).  Cecile made her first debut at the age of 13 in 1910. At the beginning of 1920s, she performed in Estonia, Latvia and Czechoslovakia. In 1918, she traveled to the United States where her mentor Auier was residing at the time. By the end of 1922, she accompanied the famous composer and director of the Petrograd Conservatory, A.K. Glazunov, on his tour through the Baltics and Germany. A music critic once noted: "What distinguishes her from other performers is her small, yet rich and gentle tone, which she so skillfully possesses" ("Ryl' " Newspaper, 1922).

During the 1920s, Cecile's husband's brother, "Panteleimon" Zaharov, lived in a small village called Kelomiaki and was neighbors with Ilya Repin. Being a friendly neighbor, Zaharov paid many visits to Repin's "Penaty" house where they painted together. Through this relationship, Zaharov introduced Cecile and her husband to the great painter.  Repin admired and deeply understood Cecile's music, which often reverberated in his home.  It wasn't much of a surprise that this famous artist decided to use the young and beautiful violin player as his subject, even painting two portraits of her between 1922-1923. A photograph of the posing Cecile also exists (see fig. 1).