Robert Rafaelovich Falk

A gift of the artist's widow to her niece in 1968
Thence by descent

D.Sarabyanov and Yu.Didenko, Zhivopis' Roberta Fal'ka: Pol'nyi katalog proizvedenii, Moscow, 2006, pp.776, 868, No.1168 (illustrated)

The board appears sound. There is a triangular area of paint loss in the top right corner approx 5 by 10mm. There are further flecks of paint loss to the right edge. There are two lines of cracking to the upper edge which have resulted in minor paint loss and another to the upper left edge. Held in a gold painted wood and plaster frame. Unexamined out of frame
"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.
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The milk jug in this charming still life features in a 1954 work, Wild flowers on the Windowsill (1955, The State Tretyakov Gallery), which suggests that the offered lot was painted during the same summer at the Strelchuks' dacha in Novo-Bykovo. The neo-impressionist white-on-white colouration of both works are beautiful exercises in restraint and Falk's mature minimalist style. 'As a rule all of his still lifes were very ascetic, laconic compositions' wrote his wife, 'but the colouration was executed with incredible delicacy.' (A.V.Schekin-Krotova, Moi Fal'k, Moscow: HGS, 2005, p.123). Nowhere is this truer than in his late work - "simplicity within complexity and complexity within simplicity" are the hallmarks of this period (D.Sarabyanov and Yu.Didenko, Zhivopis' Roberta Fal'ka, p.126).

 

When travelling abroad became a strain on his health Falk retreated instead to the countryside in the immediate environs of Moscow, which subsequently features more heavily in his late work. According to wife, he would call these late still lifes 'handheld landscapes' (A.V.Schekin-Krotova, Moi Fal'k, 2005, p.120), seeing them as extensions of his plein air paintings. Angelina Vasilevna recalls that whenever she returned from her walks with wild flowers, Falk would instruct her to put them into jar 'just as they are' so they appeared natural, praising her efforts "You do it as well as a French concierge", even though he would later meticulously rearrange them into a display that suited him better.

 

Falk famously repeated motifs, but the subtle bouquets from the fields are particular to the last decade of his life when he moved away from the traditional 'solid objects' of his early work. However, his genius at sculpting form and distinctive layered impasto never left him. In this, his only known painting of lilies-of-the-valley, the textured surface substantiates Falk's assertion that he did not so much 'paint' as 'forge' his works. For Falk, every inch of canvas was "full of potential, precious even", as he used to say, 'there is no background, everything is equally important' (A.V.Schekin-Krotova, Moi Fal'k, 2005, p.123); as with his best still lifes, 'individual objects don't create the picture; it is the relationship between the object and the surrounding space', each white and purple hue playing a vital role in the viewer's perception of the subject.