ÉCOLE DE PARIS AND OTHER MASTERS

12:00 GMT 4 December 2024

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* 31. SYCHKOV, FEDOT (1870-1958)

Meeting a Hero, signed and dated 1952.

Oil on canvas, laid on plastic board, 124 by 194 cm.
80,000-120,000 GBP

Provenance: Acquired by the present owner in 1997.
Important private collection, USA.

Exhibited: The Art of Collecting, The Museum of Russian Art, Minneapolis, 29 March – 7 September 2014 (label of the reverse).

The painting Meeting a Hero by Fedot Sychkov is the artist’s full-scale version of his famous eponymous painting now in the collection of the Erzya Mordovian Museum of Visual Arts. The excitement brought about by the long-awaited victory, the end of the war and the return home of front-line soldiers, inspired the artist to create a new narrative from rural life. Having always avoided formal officialdom and being able to portray moments of sincere joy in the lives of his fellow villagers, Sychkov approached the work on Meeting a Hero with all his characteristic enthusiasm and seriousness. The search for a live “non-staged” composition lasted for five years. During this time, the artist executed several dozen studies and versions of the composition, trying to find the right expression and pose for each of the characters. First of all, as a model for the image of a young military man who returned to his native village, Sychkov chose his fellow countryman and actual Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot Semion Polezhaev (1918–1982). Moreover, the guards major and commander of a bomber squadron during the war, specially travelled from Saransk, over a hundred kilometres away, to the village of Kochelaevo to pose for the artist.

Despite his advanced age and the challenge of working with a large two-meter canvas, Sychkov created several versions of this complex and dynamic multi-figure composition, which differ in small details of the landscape, background figures, clothing, as well as the colour and pose of a curious village dog eager to share the common joy. The painting received high critical acclaim from Sychkov’s contemporaries and is recognised as a masterpiece of the artist’s mature period.



Semion Polezhaev (1918–1982).
F. Sychkov. Portrait of Semion Polezhaev, A study for “Meeting a Hero”, 1949.

Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
◎ Indicates the lot is located outside the UK. Successful bidders would collect their lots outside the UK after payment.
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.