2 December 2015 Russian Art Auctions
2 December 2015
54. VINOGRADOV, SERGEI (1869-1938)
Pond by the Manor House, signed.
Oil on canvas, 80.5 by 98.5 cm.
70,000-90,000 GBP
Provenance: Private collection, Hungary.
Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov.
Sergei Vinogradov is undoubtedly in the front ranks of such luminaries of the Russian Impressionism, as the brilliant Konstantin Korovin, Igor Grabar, Nikolai Tarkhov, Stanislav Zhukovsky and Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. A virtuoso draughtsman endowed with a wonderful gift for composition, Vinogradov created works that were easily able to compete with those of his famous teachers, Vasily Polenov and Vladimir Makovsky. It was his strength in draughtsmanship that enabled the artist to preserve form in a masterly way and still achieve a brilliant impressionistic effect whilst making less use of the conventional idiom. Together with Abram Arkhipov, Konstantin Yuon, Arkady Rylov and Konstantin Korovin, Sergei Vinogradov was one of the founders of the Union of Russian Artists and an active figure in the association.
This community, by consistently developing the path of Russian Impressionism, greatly contributed to Russia’s artistic life. It also determined, to a significant extent, the development of contemporary realist painting, of which we can detect distinct echoes in the best examples of Soviet art from the post-war period.
Pond by the Manor House, presently at auction, was in all likelihood painted in the years 1920–1923 and is a striking example of the artist’s frontier creative work. In 1923 Vinogradov was to leave Russia forever and base himself in Latvia. His Latgalian landscapes are typically painted with more abrupt brushstrokes and appear slightly harsher, than the artist’s Russian works. It is only the palette that has not changed. The master’s joyous canvasses bathed in sunlight continued to delight and amaze the eyes of the public in the way they had before his emigration. A brilliant study of the most subtle shades of green and blue and reflected glare on the surface of a pond, a masterly juxtaposition of light and shadow on the walls of the house and a striking sense of warm summer air once again showcase Vinogradov’s mastery as a Russian Impressionist painter.
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.