Lot 24
  • 24

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky

Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Konstantin Makovsky
  • Lady in Pink (Portrait of Marina Ionina)
  • signed in Latin m.l.; further bearing studio stamps on the reverse and on the stretcher and the Hammer Gallery label on the stretcher
  • oil on canvas
  • 143.5 by 105cm, 56 1/2 by 41 1/2 in.

Provenance

The artist's granddaughter, Marina Flamant, Paris
Sotheby Parke-Bernet New York, 7 October 1977, lot 136
Phillips New York, 27 October 1983, lot 164
Hammer Galleries, New York

Exhibited

St Petersburg, 10-aya vystavka S.-Peterburgskogo obshchestva khudozhnikov, 1902, no.186

Literature

Exhibition catalogue 10-aya vystavka S.-Peterburgskogo obshchestva khudozhnikov, St Petersburg, 1902, p.24, no.186 listed, illustrated in b/w

Condition

Original canvas which is slightly slack on the stretcher. The tacking edges are frayed and there are losses to the corners. There are frame abrasions with some associated paint loss along all four edges. There is an indentation with a tiny puncture approximately 15cm below the signature and another indentation in the upper left. There is a tiny hole to the right of the top of the chair. The surface is covered in a layer of dirt. There is a fleck of paint loss in the centre of the hat and scattered flecks of paint loss in places. There is craquelure to the impasto in places. Inspection under UV light reveals an area of retouching where the sitter's left sleeve meets her dress. Held in a gilt wooden frame with plaster mouldings. 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."

Catalogue Note

 Konstantin Makovsky embarked upon a career as a society portrait painter immediately on graduating from the St Petersburg Academy of Arts and it is for his portraits of women in particular that he is celebrated. In 1864, the landscape painter Pavel Dzhogin wrote to Ivan Shishkin, who was then abroad on an Academy sponsored trip, relating the news in St Petersburg: ‘Makovsky is utterly spoilt for portrait commissions, and what clients – all the princes and barons’. The artist remained true to his chosen path until the end. At his 1897 personal exhibition in St Petersburg it was his portraits of women which stole the show. The critics remarked: ‘This abundance of the female form is so great and so conspicuous, that all his other paintings, regardless of their large size, recede into the background and in the foreground remains that which Goethe so aptly named ‘Das Ewig-Weibliche’, or the ‘Eternal feminine’.

Makovsky’s ability to flatter his models, whilst still achieving a likeness, is what impressed his high-ranking clients and his undoubted artistic talent, his knack for a striking composition and the ‘tasteful’ manner in which he painted fabrics and jewellery was highly valued by connoisseurs.

This portrait of Marina Ionina was shown at the 10th Exhibition of the St Petersburg Society of Artists in 1902 and is reproduced in the catalogue. It is painted with the artist’s characteristic finesse and expressivity. The lace trim of her dress, fur stole, rippling silks and pearl necklace are all painted with consummate skill, and are what make this portrait such a fine example of Makovsky’s work in this genre.

The name of Marina Pavlovna Ionina is found in the well-known address book All St Petersburg. In the 1900 edition she is listed as ‘the wife’ and in the 1901 as ‘the widow’ of the Active Privy Councillor A.S.Ionin. The sitter’s black crepe hat is most likely a symbol of her recent mourning.

We are grateful to Dr Elena Nesterova for providing this catalogue note.