Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa

The artist
Thence by descent

Leningrad, Exhibition of Works by N.A. Tyrsa (1887-1942), LOSKh, May-June 1946
Leningrad, State Russian Museum, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa, LOSKh RSFSR, 1967
Leningrad, Exhibition to Mark the Centenary of Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa's Birth, 1987
St.Petersburg, State Russian Museum, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): oil, graphics, glass-work, 1992
Moscow, Art-Divage Gallery, Discreet Charm of a Faint Object of Desire, 2003
Kazan, State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): paintings, graphics, March-April 2004
Moscow, Art-Divage Gallery, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): paintings, graphics, April-May 2004

V. Petrova and A.M. Zemtsova et al., Exhibition of Works by Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942), Leningrad, 1946, p. 7
State Russian Museum, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa, LOSKh RSFSR, Leningrad, 1967, p. 16
Exhibition Catalogue, Exhibition to Mark the Centenary of Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa's Birth, Leningrad, 1987, listed under works for 1933, p. 15, illustrated
State Russian Museum, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): paintings, graphics, glass-work, St. Petersburg, 1992, p. 45, no. 20
Art-Divage Gallery, Discreet Charm of a Faint Object of Desire, Moscow, 2003, no. 56, illustrated
State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): paintings, graphics, Moscow, 2004
State Russian Museum, Nikolai Andreevich Tyrsa (1887-1942): paintings, graphics, Moscow, 2004, p. 26, no. 3, illustrated

This painting has been recently restored and could be hung as is. The canvas is unlined and still stretched on what appears to be the original stretcher. The paint layer is stable. A ridge of paint running horizontally through the right shoulder and in the center background is all original. The paint layer is clean and has not been over-cleaned. Under ultraviolet light there are a few loose retouches on the left edge, in the center of the top and in the upper right corner, and in a few spots along the bottom. In the figure itself although some colors read quite strongly under ultraviolet light, the only retouches are in the right forearm. The painting is in beautiful 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 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."

Nikolai Tyrsa received a somewhat untraditional art education, studying only briefly at the St. Petersburg Academy and later as a student to Leon Bakst, whom he credited as his principal mentor.

It was not until the 1930s that Tyrsa fully embraced oil paints as a medium and the female nude as a characteristic subject. The present lot serves as one of the finest examples of this period in the artist's oeuvre. He employed a uniquely vivid palette, evoking a sense of optimism that would seemingly clash with the common hardships of this time in Soviet history. In early 1942 Tyrsa was evacuated from a besieged Leningrad to Vologda, only to die there shortly afterward. His reputation endures, and his works are represented in major museum collections including both the State Russian Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery.