Abraham Manievich

This painting has been quite recently restored. The canvas has been lined. The paint layer is stable and well textured. The artist painted on an unprimed piece of canvas. This original canvas is visible throughout the picture however despite being painted on a raw canvas there does not appear to be any abrasion or paint loss and this technique here is very effective. The paint layer has been nicely cleaned. It is possible that the cleaning is not as thorough as it could be yet by the same token, all of the delicate touches of the foliage against the light sky are fully intact and the approach to cleaning is appropriate. Under ultraviolet light there are some rather lazy and exaggerated retouches in the lighter areas of the sky particularly, which have been applied to what appears to be original texture to the paint layer or some vestiges of dirt. These could easily be removed carefully without all the retouching being necessary. In the darker colors there seems to be considerably less retouching and it is hard to identify any except for a few spots. Despite the greatly exaggerated retouches in the sky, many of which are unnecessary, the picture is in very good condition and could be hung as is. 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."