Pavel Alexandrovich Mansurov

Published on a postcard in 1916
A.Povelikhina, exhibition catalogue Organica: Organic. The Non-Objective World of Nature in the Russian Avant-Garde, Cologne: Galerie Gmurzynska, 1999, p.250, postcard reproduced b/w
A.Povelikhina, M.Loshak, exhibition catalogue Organica: New Perception of Nature in the Russian Avant-Gardism of the 20th Century, Moscow: Moscow Art Centre, 2001, p.173, postcard reproduced b/w

There is very fine horizontal cracking over the wood grain which is most notable in the white pigment of the sitter's face and neck. The edges and corners show signs of wear and previous losses to the paint layer along the right edge and the right of the lower edge have been painted over. There are two small pits in the paint layer below the sitter's eye which have been painted in. There is a layer of surface dirt and a thick layer of discoloured varnish. Inspection under UV light reveals restoration to all four edges, in the sitter's hair, around his eye, cheek and chin. Held in a wooden tray 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."

This self portrait depicts the artist at the age of 20 and is one of his very few early figurative works. Upon graduating in 1915, Mansurov enrolled in the Imperial Aviation unit as a designer. This exposure to the world of aviation and technology was to have a lasting effect on his art. By 1918 he had organised his first exhibition of abstract work and by the end of the decade he had abandoned figurative painting completely.

The present lot is painted on wood, Mansurov's signature technique which he adopted while working under Vladimir Tatlin between 1915 and 1917, and which was inspired by the icon-painting tradition. The following inscription can be found on the reverse by an unidentified hand: '1916 / Mansurov Pav. / tsena 100,000 r. / pisal veshch rovno 1 god' together with what may have been an inventory number from an exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery, '060107 GTG'. 

The Soviet art critic and dealer Victor Kholodkov (1948-2015) was particularly drawn to the graphic works and typographical experiments of the Russian avant-garde. He published a number of articles on the subject and contributed to exhibitions after his emigration from the Soviet Union in 1989, including the 1992 Guggenheim exhibition The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde. His extensive collection of papers and artwork relating to VKhUTEMAS was acquired by the Getty Museum in 1995 and his collection of Soviet music sheet covers is now in The Library of Congress.

The present selection of graphic works, oils and original film posters (lots 107-138) from the first half of the 20^th century is characteristic of Kholodkov’s interests in the convergence of artistic, cultural and political concerns of the period. He is known to have purchased much of his collection directly from the artists or their families; others were acquired directly from Nikolai Khardzhiev, another well-known collector of the Russian avant-garde.