- 306
Nikolai Nikanorovich Dubovskoy
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
Log in to view results
bidding is closed
Description
- Nikolai Nikanorovich Dubovskoy
- After the Rain
- signed in Cyrillic and dated 1915 l.r.; further signed in Cyrillic, titled Posle dozhdya and dated 1915 on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 53.5 by 71cm, 21 by 28in.
Provenance
Acquired by the present owner in the early 1970s
Exhibited
Moscow, Petrograd, XLIV Itinerant Exhibition, 1915-1916
Literature
G.Romanov (Ed.), The Society of Itinerant Fine Art Exhibitions, 1871-1923, An Encyclopaedia, St Petersburg: Sankt-Peterburg Orkestr, 2003, p.421, no.8-84 illustrated b/w
Condition
Structural condition: The canvas is unlined on a keyed wooden stretcher and this is providing an even and secure structural support. There is an inscription on the reverse of the canvas. Paint surface: The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There are scattered areas of fine craquelure within the sky, and feint upper horizontal and vertical stretcher-bar lines, but these appear stable and are not visually distracting. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows some scattered spots of retouching within the sky, mainly concentrated within the upper centre of the sky. Summary:
The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
The present picture is a beautiful example of Dubovskoy’s mature period, when he painted some of his best works. In 1911, after having seen Dubovskoy’s painting Rodina at the International Art Exhibition in Rome, Ilya Repin praised it in a letter to the artist: ‘It is the best landscape at the Rome world-fair… I congratulate you in particular, Nikolai Nikanorovich: you have never been as magnificent and powerful – an original, vivid and very beautiful painting!!!’
The brushwork of the present picture, its open composition and the treatment of light show the influence of the French Impressionists, whose work Dubovskoy had studied in the 1890s. The contemporary subject matter of the painting resonates with both the interests of the Impressionists as well as the Itinerants, of which Dubovskoy was a leading member.
Born into a Don Cossack family, the artist supported the development of the arts in the Don region throughout his life. He donated his art collection to his native city of Novocherkassk and in 1945-47, the collection was transferred to the Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks. It is particularly noteworthy that the museum’s collection includes the 1906 On the allotment (fig.1), a composition very similar to the present lot.
The brushwork of the present picture, its open composition and the treatment of light show the influence of the French Impressionists, whose work Dubovskoy had studied in the 1890s. The contemporary subject matter of the painting resonates with both the interests of the Impressionists as well as the Itinerants, of which Dubovskoy was a leading member.
Born into a Don Cossack family, the artist supported the development of the arts in the Don region throughout his life. He donated his art collection to his native city of Novocherkassk and in 1945-47, the collection was transferred to the Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks. It is particularly noteworthy that the museum’s collection includes the 1906 On the allotment (fig.1), a composition very similar to the present lot.