MacDougall Auctions 12-18 June 2008
12 June 2008
* 77. YAKOVLEV, ALEXANDER 1887-1938
Female Torso
Sanguine on paper, 64 by 49 cm.
10,000-15,000
Provenance: The Hoffman Family, who acquired works directly from the artist.
This work will be included in the book on Alexander Yakovlev prepared by V. Kruglov, the State Russian Museum.
“In Capri, across the Bay of Naples, a Russian painter who dresses in a sarong and sandals and carries a little straw handbag, showed us what there was to see and paint. His name was Alexandre Jacovleff. He had just returned from one of the Citroen expeditions across Africa and he knew the most respectable people on the island, as well as the doubtful ones; and he was adored by Italians and foreigners alike. He came here every summer in order to be able to swim in the clear water of Capri. Wearing underwater goggles which he had brought from Japan, he disappeared into the blue waves to study the rock formations and marine life. He had invented a pair of rubber webbed feet which he often wore and which enabled him to swim twice as fast as anyone else. With these he looked like some odd species of merman.”
From We Lead a Double Life by Ruth and Helen Hoffman, 1947.
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.