IVAN BILIBIN
1876 - 1942
1876 - 1942
THE ARCHER'S WIFE BEFORE THE TSAR AND HIS RETINUE
LOT SOLD.
40,000 EUR
Details & Cataloguing
Jacques Grange | Collectionneur
|
Paris
Paris
IVAN BILIBIN
1876 - 1942
1876 - 1942
THE ARCHER'S WIFE BEFORE THE TSAR AND HIS RETINUE
watercolor, brown ink and pencil on paper laid on card
signed with initials in Cyrillic and dated 1919-1925 l.r., further signed in the margin in Latin l.r.
33,5 x 24 cm ; 13 by 9 1/2 in.
Read Condition Report
Read Condition Report
signed with initials in Cyrillic and dated 1919-1925 l.r., further signed in the margin in Latin l.r.
33,5 x 24 cm ; 13 by 9 1/2 in.
Provenance
A gift from the artist to his eldest son
Thence by descent to the widow of the above
Christie's London, 21 April 1988, lot 127
Jacques Grange Collection, Paris
Thence by descent to the widow of the above
Christie's London, 21 April 1988, lot 127
Jacques Grange Collection, Paris
Catalogue Note
After studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg under Ilya Repin, a founding member of Mir Iskusstva (World of Art), Bilibin also joined the group. His interest in Russian folk tales, or bylini, led him to work in book illustration and with the striking combination of his modern graphic style with ancient folk subjects he soon achieved renown. In 1920 Bilibin left Russia for Egypt where he spent five years before eventually settling in Paris. There he worked predominantly as a theatre artist, contributing to the Ballets Russes and designing set and costume designs for productions of Rimsky-Korsakov's Tsar Saltan, Borodin's Prince Igor and Stravinsky's Fire Bird.
Dating to his post-emigration period and therefore signed in Latin, the present lot illustrates a scene from the popular Russian folk tale Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What. For a similar, but later work, see S. Golynets, Ivan Bilibin, Leningrad: Aurora, 1988, pl. 167.
Suggested Lots
Jacques Grange | Collectionneur
|
Paris
Paris
