Russian Pictures
Russian Pictures
Ivan Puni (Jean Pougny)
Khlebnikov Reading his Poems to Xana
Auction Closed
December 1, 03:47 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Ivan Puni (Jean Pougny)
1894 - 1956
Khlebnikov Reading his Poems to Xana
signed in Cyrillic and dated 1917 l.r.; further bearing various exhibition labels on the backing board
ink on paper laid on card
Card: 20.5 by 18cm, 8 by 7in.
Frame: 37 by 33cm, 14¼ by 13in.
Collection of Herman Berninger (1911-2012), Zurich
Acquired from the widow of the above by the present owner
Exhibition catalogue Iwan Puni (Jean Pougny) 1898-1956, Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Reliefs, Berlin: Haus am Waldsee, 1975, no.30 listed
Exhibition catalogue Jean Pougny, Paris: Paris-Musées, 1993, p.178, no.150 illustrated b/w and listed
Exhibition catalogue Iwan Puni, 1892-1956, Berlin: Berlinische Galerie, 1993, p.188, no.150 illustrated b/w and listed
Exhibition catalogue 0,10 - Iwan Puni, Bern: Benteli Verlag, 2003, p.41, no.48 illustrated b/w
D.Sarabianov, Ivan Puni, Moscow: Iskusstvo, 2007, p.130 illustrated; p.363, no.130 listed
Having recently returned from Paris to St Petersburg, Ivan Puni married fellow artist Ksenia (Xana) Boguslavskaya in 1913. Their studio on Gatchinskaya Street on Petrograd Side soon became a meeting point for the most radical artists and poets, including Velimir Khlebnikov, already a central figure of Russian Futurism and one of the authors of the Futurist Manifesto A Slap in the Face of Public Taste, published a year earlier.
After another stint in France, the Punis were forced to return to Russia by the onset of the First World War. Back in St Petersburg, they became the driving force behind two seminal Futurist exhibitions, which would have a profound influence on the development of the Russian avant-garde. In March 1915, the The First Futurist Exhibition of Paintings ‘Tramvay V’ brought together works by Malevich, Kliun, Popova and Tatlin among others. Later that same year, The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings ‘0,10’ introduced the public to Malevich’s Black Square and Suprematism.
Dating from the revolutionary year 1917, Khlebnikov Reading his Poetry to Xana brings together three key figures of the Russian avant-garde and illustrates the close relationship between the visual arts and literature during this tumultuous time. Its appearance at auction is a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a work on paper from Puni’s Russian period, further distinguished by its impeccable provenance and impressive exhibition history.