Alexandra Exter

Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 19 May 2005, lot 125

The lot is composed of three panels, each with an individual wood surround, hinged together as a triptych. The joint between the wood surround and the right panel has cracked in the lower right corner, but appears to be stable. There are abrasions and losses along all edges, most notably around the top edge of the right panel. There are some minor stable cracks to the panels, notably to the right edge of the central panel, where it is hinged to the right panel. There are stable cracks to the paint surface throughout. The paint surface is uneven in the black areas along the top as well as on the reverse. There is a layer of surface dirt. Inspection under UV light reveals scattered retouching and infilling to all three panels. The triptych stands on four wooden round feet which are screwed into the panels.
"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."

This impressive triptych screen is a superb example of Exter’s interest in classical antiquity and the Purist movement, but it is also reminds us of her versatility as an artist in later life. ‘Exter was interested in everything that was ART’ recalled Lissim. ‘I enjoy the colours, their luminosity, their linearly perfection, the imagination and perfect sense of composition, the exquisite balance, sometimes unbelievable, the feeling of pure perfection that her work conveys...' In the thirties her book design for The River was in the form of an accordion, so that the river and banks could be seen as a panorama and folded back into the cover, ‘and she also did beautiful designs for chandeliers, embroideries, rugs, furniture and for porcelain – I have a lovely cup with a linear design suggested by Greek mythology’ (S.Lissim, Alexandra Exter as I Knew Her, 1974).

The triptych directly relates to the illustrations Exter executed for Andre Gide’s The Treatise of the Narcissus (1938-1940), one of her earliest commissioned manuscripts (fig.1). Other volumes based on Classical subjects would include Aeschylus: The Seven Against Thebes (1943) and Euripides: The Bacchantes, (1944-45). As outlined by Amédée Ozenfant and Le Corbusier in their 1918 treatise, Purism moved away from fragmentation of the object, a central precept of Cubism, in favour of a representation of objects as powerful basic forms stripped of detail – ideas which Exter embraced in her later work.