Ervand Kotchar

Sale: Palais Galliera, Paris, 7 March 1975, lot 156
Galerie Gorky Basmadjian, Paris

Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery and Leningrad, State Hermitage Museum, Vystavka khudozhestvennykh proizvedenii xvi-xx vekov iz sobraniya G. Basmadzhyana, 1988
Paris, Galerie Gorky Basmadjian, Kotchar, 1989, illustrated on the cover of the catalogue

Henrik Igitian, Yervand Kochar, Yerevan, 2000, p. 89, illustrated

Original canvas. There are frame abrasions along all four edges with minor associated paint loss. There is a faint horizontal crack running across the centre of the composition. There are areas of minor paint shrinkage. There is a light covering of surface dirt. Inspection under UV light does not reveal any apparent signs of retouching. Held in a gold painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
"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."

Ervand Kotchar studied in Tiflis, Georgia, before moving to Moscow to enrol in the studio of Petr Konchalovsky, one of the chief proponents of the Russian Cubist movement. In 1923 Kotchar moved to Paris where he was soon exhibiting alongside Picasso, Braque, Brancusi and Leger. Over the next decade his art became increasingly daring and innovative, to the extent that two of his works were vandalised at the 1928 Salon des Indépendants. A contemporary art critic described his work as being 'among the most daring, obviously revolutionary, and apt to make discoveries. Meanwhile, it is a solid, truthful and tough art, which will make philistines howl, but will give satisfaction and aesthetic delight to those who can feel the charm of innovation’ (quoted in Les Artistes d’aujourd’hui, 1926). In 1936 Kotchar returned to Soviet Armenia where his artistic output mostly included monumental sculpture, including the equestrian statue of the epic hero David of Sassoon which has come to symbolise Armenia.

Executed in 1931, Woman and Horse dates to the key Parisian period of Kotchar's career. Only a year later he showed his work alongside Braque, Miró, Picabia and de Chirico at the exhibition of Cubist, Surrealist and Abstract art at the gallery of Léonce Rosenberg, one of Kotchar's key patrons in Paris. The amalgamation of Cubism and Surrealist elements with classical drawing create an extraordinarily expressive and dynamic work, chosen understandably for the cover of the 1989 retrospective exhibition in Paris.