25 - 28 November 2012 Russian Art Auctions
25 November 2012
* 134. RUSAKOV, ALEXANDER (1898–1949)
Nude, inscribed in Cyrillic with the artist’s name and dated 1923 on the reverse.
Oil on canvas, 88 by 42 cm.
80,000–120,000 GBP
Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist’s family.
Private collection, Europe.
Authenticity certificate from the expert Yu. Rybakova.
Exhibited: Obnazhennaya natura. XX vek, Galereya Dom Nashchokina, Moscow, 9 December 2009– 8 March 2010.
Literature: Exhibition catalogue, Obnazhennaya natura. XX vek, Moscow, Galereya Dom Nashchokina, 2009, illustrated.
M. German, Alexander Rusakov, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1989, p. 152, No. 59, listed.
Among the representatives of the Leningrad school in the 1920s and 1930s, the name of Alexander Rusakov stands on a par with such remarkable painters as Nikolai Lapshin, Alexander Vedernikov, Vladimir Grinberg, Nikolai Tyrsa, Vyacheslav Pakulin and Georgy Vereisky.
A member of the famous Krug khudozhnikov (Artists’ circle) association, and most faithful of the legendary Alexei Karev’s pupils, Rusakov was a vehicle for his ideas, which were primarily based on constructing a composition from broad decorative blotches. More dynamic in his manner than his teacher, in some of his works Rusakov comes close to the mood and style of the German Expressionists, particularly Kirchner, Heckel and Pechstein. The “stubby” drawing in his compositions of the early to mid-1920s clearly illustrates this, accompanied as it is by rather jerky, nervous brushwork.
The Nude in this catalogue was undoubtedly painted under Karev’s influence. Its bold composition along a diagonal, the prevalence of ochre and dark blue planes of colour and its technical peculiarities, are all characteristic of the “crude” use of paint common to the Leningrad school as a whole.
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.