29 November 2017 Russian Art Auctions
29 November 2017
24. GROOTH, IVAN (1717-1801)
A Goose and a White Peacock, signed and dated 1786.
Oil on canvas, 81 by 64 cm.
30,000-40,000 GBP
Provenance: Important private collection, Europe.
Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov.
Related literature: For another version of the present lot, see Zhivopis. XVIII vek. Katalog, vol. 1, St Petersburg, Palace Editions, 1998, p. 82, No. 145, illustrated.
Ivan Grooth was a German-born artist who became a court painter to Empress Elizaveta Petrovna of Russia. The Empress was a keen huntswoman and commissioned the Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build her a hunting pavilion and menagerie, Mon Bijou, on the grounds of Tsarskoe Selo. Grooth was tasked with the decoration of the pavilion and he created a series of 43 paintings depicting hunting scenes and domestic animals. Mon Bijou was dismantled a few decades later and the whereabouts of most of these paintings are now unknown. It is possible that the present lot was among the works that once decorated the walls of the Mon Bijou pavilion as well.
Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
Ω Indicates 20% Import Duty Charge applies.
§ Indicates Artist's Resale Right applies.
† Indicates Standard VAT scheme applies, and the rate of 20% VAT will be charged on both hammer price and premium.