Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin

Perezvony, Riga, 1925, no. 4, illustrated

This canvas has been lined. The canvas needs to be tightened slightly, but it is well supported by the lining. The paint layer has been cleaned and varnished, and as far as we can tell there are no retouches visible either under ultraviolet light or to the naked eye. This painting is in very good condition and 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."

Illustrated in one of the earliest editions of the Riga periodical, Perezvony, the offered lot is an exceptional example of Korovin's depictions of cities at dusk as the journal's art critic explains:

'Marseilles Quay by Night by Konstantin Korovin is certainly the most convincing of the Impressionist works of the 'Mir Iskusstva' group. I would go even go so far as to say it is the most expressive work by any Russian Impressionist. 

The flames of the outside fires, the lighthouse, the little shopstalls; the flashes of light from the windows of the houses; the light of the moon, indignantly absorbing the fire from below; the deep dark sky. The scarcely delineated outline of the boats, and the shimmering sea beyond, which suggests itself to your imagination. The indistinct quayside crowd of this large coastal city is similarly restless, like the foam of the sea it seethes, just like all of these lights and flames. In this atmosphere, the crowd also emanates its own 'seaside mood' which has built up during long crossings across the changeable sea.

But none of this is distinct; it is apprehended by the viewer's imagination rather than picked out from the painting itself, which more than anything overwhelms you with its dashes of colour and light.' (N.Misheev, Perezvony, 1925, p.74)