Paul Kotlarevsky

Estate of the artist, Paris
Sotheby's London, Russian 20th Century and Avant-Garde Art, 23 May 1990, lot 265
Barry Friedman Gallery, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Original canvas, which is double-sided, featuring a seated figure and still life on the reverse apparently from the same period. The composition on the reverse has extensive paint losses and is covered by a protective sheet of Perspex. The canvas tacking edges have been covered with brown paper tape. There are several areas of paint loss in the upper right of the main composition, one larger and three smaller, and other minor scattered paint losses. Fine vertical lines of craqulure are visible throughout. There is a layer of light surface dirt. Inspection under UV light reveals restoration to the edges, some of the vertical lines of craquleure and scattered throughout the composition. Held in a simple wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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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."

After his graduation Paul Kotlarevsky travelled to Europe to study its artistic heritage, arriving in Paris in 1913. At the outbreak of the war he joined the Russian corps of the French Army, and the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 made his return home impossible. Having decided to remain in Paris, he concentrated on his painting and enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts, frequenting the Russian artist Charchoune and working with Le Fauconnier.

Throughout the 1920s, Kotlarevsky worked at Les Halles, the central market of Paris to support himself and his family, delivering farm produce at night and painting during the day. At the time Kotlarevsky experimented with various styles prevalent in Paris, but he was most drawn to Cubism. This influence is particularly apparent in the present work, in which the composition is built up from facetted and simplified geometrical forms.