MIKHAIL CHEMIAKIN | Metaphysical Head / The Wounded Soldier

signed in Latin and dated '1982' l.r.; further signed and inscribed in Latin, titled in Cyrillic and dated '1982' on the reverseoil on canvasA born disruptor, when he was 18 years old Mikhail Chemiakin was expelled from art school in Leningrad for straying from the Socialist Realist code, and three years later was involved in putting together an exhibition at the Hermitage which was so badly received that even the museum director was fired. He was given forced psychiatric treatment and then in 1971, expelled from the country. He lived in France in the 1970s and moved to New York in 1981. In 1989 as an American citizen he was asked back to the Soviet Union to exhibit, one of the first of his generation to receive such an invitation. This monumental portrait was painted in New York and is a superb example of the style he termed ‘Metaphysical Synthesis’, a reworking of the traditions connected with religious art and in particular icon-painting.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 1988

Original canvas. There is a layer of light surface dirt and since the paint surface is uneven, dust has gathered in some of the pitted areas. The varnish has discolored. There are some drips of media staining in the lower half. There are a few minor surface scratches. Held in a blue and gold painted frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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