Alexei Alexeevich Harlamoff

Private Collection, Toronto
Acquired from the above by the present owner 

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is in beautiful condition. The canvas is unlined and well stretched on its original stretcher. The paint layer is stable. The painting is cleaned and lightly varnished. It has received a few retouches. Under ultraviolet light, retouches can be seen in some cracking beneath the yellow and green apples and pears in the lower left, and in a few cracks to the left of the red apples in the lower center. There are half a dozen retouches in the apple held by the girl with the red ribbon in her hair also attending to some cracking. The same girl has a few retouches in her hair. A few of the largest cracks in the impasto in the upper left have also received some retouches. This kind of cracking is to be expected in a picture like this. The restoration is very minimal, and the varnish is appropriate. The work can be hung as is.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

After study at the Academy of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Alexei Harlamoff moved to Paris in 1874, training in Léon Bonnat’s studio before making his first appearance at the Salon in 1875.  Harlamoff quickly settled into Paris’ vibrant Russian circles of artists and patrons. Having established himself as an accomplished and respected portraitist, with sitters including Tsar Alexander II, by the early 1880s his Salon successes had allowed him the financial freedom to take a private studio on place Pigalle, at the foot of the Montmartre hill, to focus on the genre painting which would earn him international fame.

Like his contemporary William Bouguereau, Harlamoff specialized in portraits of children.  Two Girls with Apples and Pears is a rare example of a large scale two-figure composition and demonstrates the artist’s brilliant ability to record variations of texture, color, light and shade in his highly detailed work. As with many of Harlamoff’s compositions, the artist contrasts the rough-spun cloth of costume with the sparkle and gleam of the gold beads of a double-stranded necklace. While the identities of Harlamoff’s young models are largely unknown, a specific number appear in multiple compositions. The girl at left, with her long dark hair and rosy cheeks, is among the most recognizable and can be seen in several of his works through the mid-1880s.