30 November 2016 Russian Art Auctions

30 November 2016

Artist Index / Full Catalogue


Portrait of Alexandra Levchenko

110. SOMOV, KONSTANTIN (1869-1939)

Portrait of Alexandra Levchenko, signed and dated 1934.

Pastel on paper, laid on canvas, 46 by 38 cm.
40,000–60,000 GBP


Provenance: Russian Art, Christie’s London, 13 June 2007, lot 63.
Private collection, UK.

Literature: E. Yakovleva, “Aleksandra Levchenko – parizhsakaya model’ K.A. Somova”, Antikvarnoe Obozrenie, No.1, 2011, p. 9, illustrated.

This portrait of Alexandra Levchenko, Konstantin Somov’s Parisian model, belongs to his famous series of portraits created between 1934 and 1937. She sat for three of four versions of portraits of Cécile de Volanges, the heroine of Choderlos de Laclos’ novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, commissioned by a close friend of the artist, the collector and patron Mikhail Braikevitch and completed in 1934.


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.