Elena Luksch-Makovsky

The card has discoloured and stained. There is wear to the edges. The design for the cover is composed of two sheets stuck together at the centre. There are handling creases and several tears in places, with wear and several creases to the corners with associated paintloss across the creasing. The smaller designs are also stained and discoloured and there are flecks of media staining on some. All mounted in four groups on card.
"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."

To be sold with 13 miniature working designs for the publication.

Elena Luksch-Makovskaya travelled to Munich in 1898 to study in Anton Ažbe studio alongside Vasily Kandinsky, Alexei Jawlensky and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. She married the Austrian sculptor Richard Luksch (1872–1967) and moved to Vienna, where she was the first female member of the Vienna Secession and a participant in the pioneering design cooperative Wiener Kunst im Hause. Her technical aptitude owes much to her training in the 1890s at the St Petersburg Tenisheva Drawing School, the lessons of Ilya Repin at the Academy of Arts, and no doubt also to those of her father, Konstantin Makovsky.

 

The publishers Grossmann and Knebel were active in Moscow between 1894-1919, and were the first firm to specialise in art publications. They also developed an important line in children's books, illustrated by the foremost graphic artists of the period. It is not known whether this enchanting series of illustrated proverbs from 1910 was ever published.