Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel

Acquired in Paris by a Russian émigré collector in the interwar years
Sotheby's London, Icons, Russian Pictures and Works of Art, 24 November 1992, lot 36

There are some minor chips along the edge of the base, the tip of the nose and the base of the thumb. Above her head, the tips of her fingers are missing and half of the flower. These areas of loss have been repainted.
"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."

The present work was executed circa 1897.

Kupava, together with the following two lots in the sale, Sadko and Volkhova, were created with traditional glazing techniques though the surfaces recall Vrubel's later experiments with reductive firing. This effect is produced by the application of silver nitrate which gives the semi-gloss silver-grey glazes different tones, and of gold nitrate, which produces a bright fluorescing surface. This effect is found only in Vrubel's sculptures.

Kupava is the most moving of Vrubel's Snegurochka cycle, which consists of Kupava, Spring, Mizgir, Lel' and Berendei. The fairy-tale opera which inspired the cycle was Rimsky-Korsakov's favourite, and starred the soprano singer Nadezhda Zabela, whom Vrubel married in 1896. The libretto is based on Alexander Ostrovsky's play in which the young beauty Kupava is betrothed to the merchant Mizgir, who falls in love with Snegurochka. It seems likely that Vrubel conceived Kupava as a companion piece to Mizgir, since the two figures are almost mirror-images.

The present work is imbued with an elegiac sense of meditation, as Suzdalev comments: 'she is immersed in a dream-world, like all the figures in this cycle; but the general emotional leitmotif of Kupava, unlike Lel' for example, is one of sorrow - the sense of spurned love and unwarranted hurt' (P.Suzdalev, Vrubel, 1991, p.235). The details of this lot seem almost abstract in places: her hand and necklace melt into the body of the sculpture like a metamorphosis from Ovid, while the face itself in contrast is finely wrought and wonderfully expressive.

We are grateful to Eleonora Paston of The State Tretyakov Gallery and Vilyams Nevsky of the Abramtsevo Museum for providing additional cataloguing information.