Lot 40
  • 40

Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
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Description

  • Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov
  • Evening View of the Seine by the Louvre
  • signed in Latin l.r. and numbered 390 on the reverse;

     

     

     

     

     

  • oil on panel
  • 12.5 by 17.2 cm, 5 by 6 3/4 in.

Provenance

Salle des Chiroux, Liège, Tableaux, études et dessins du peintre Ivan Pokitonow, Collection de Madame E. de W. et Monsieur B. Wulfert-Pokitonow, 17 November 1925, no.36
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner

Literature

Catalogue des tableaux, études et dessins du peintre Ivan Pokitonow. Collection de Madame E. de W. et Monsieur B. Wulfert-Pokitonow [...], Liège, Salle des Chiroux, 17 November 1925, no. 36, La Seine au soir devant le Louvre (Paris-1900)

Condition

The panel appears sound. There is a layer of light surface dirt. UV light reveals no apparent signs of retouching. Held in a bronze painted 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

At the turn of the century, the French capital continued to exert a strong influence on artists from all over the world, who still flocked to Paris to immerse themselves in its wide range of artistic traditions, from Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism to the more recent movements of Fauvism, Cubism and Abstraction.

In the tradition of the Peredvizhniki, Pokhitonov had made his own pilgrimage to Paris over twenty years earlier. It was here in 1878 that he painted his very first pictures. He achieved success and recognition fast and, thanks in part to critical acclaim in the press and a contract with Galerie Georges Petit, he decided to settle in France. Over the next few years, he would spend time with numerous exiled Russian artists and writers in France including Ivan Turgenev. In the 1880s he moved to the South West of France, travelled in Italy and eventually settled in the small Belgian town of Jupille, near Liège. From here he often made excursions along the Belgian coast and longer trips to Russia.

In April 1900, Pokhitonov spent several weeks in Paris and the surrounding countryside at the time of the World Fair. Quai de la Tournelle and Portrait of the Ethnologist Théodore Volkov both date from this trip. The present work, Evening View of the Seine by the Louvre, depicts one of Paris' most symbolic vistas and can be considered Pokhitonov's homage to the city which welcomed him and propelled him to fame, and also his homage to the old masters in the Louvre which he admired so greatly. In the distance one can just make out the central glass dome of the Grand Palais which had been inaugurated a few weeks earlier with the opening of two important exhibitions, the Centennale and Décennale, dedicated to French art from the 19th century and 1890s. Pokhitonov exhibited no fewer than eight paintings at the World Fair of 1900 and was awarded a silver medal.

We are grateful to Olivier Bertrand, author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Ivan Pokhitonov, for providing this note. The present work will be included as no.390 in the catalogue raisonné.