Vasily Ivanovich Shukhaev

This set of three paintings is in lovely condition. The boards on which they are painted are stable and flat. The paint layers are dry and do not appear to have developed any instability in any of the colors. There are selectively shiny areas which are all intentional by the artist. In the set of frames that they are contained in, they should 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."

The 1930s: A Triptych is a poignant memorial to this period of devastation and famine in Soviet history. Shukhaev may have evaded some of the earliest troubles of forced collectivization, having spent the first half of the 1930s traveling throughout France, Spain and Morocco, but shortly after his return to Russia he was sentenced to ten years in a labor camp in Magadan. The offered lot was then executed in the 1960s, representing the relaxed censorship of this period of the Krushchev Thaw.

In the form of a monumental triptych, its very format suggesting the significance of a religious icon, Shukhaev captures the fear and anguish that permeated the Russian countryside. Its outer panels depict peasants watching in distress as their farms are patrolled by Soviet guards, while its central panel depicts the aftermath of a village church's destruction. Large bells are strewn about in the snow in the foreground, evoking the carnage of a battleground, and another church is marked for demolition by a red Soviet flag in the background. All the while a propaganda poster at right underscores the government's foreboding and ever-watchful presence.