MacDougall Auctions 28 November 2008
28 November 2008
* 55. KONCHALOVSKY, PETR 1876-1956
Park signed, titled "Park" in Cyrillic, dated 1921 and numbered "395" on the reverse
Oil on canvas, 61 by 73.5 cm.
380,000-700,000
Exhibited: Paintings by P. Konchalovsky, 1st Exhibition, Moscow, 1922. Paintings by P. Konchalovsky, 2nd Exhibition, Paris, 1925.
Literature: P. Konchalovsky. Khudozhestvenoe nasledie, Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1964, page 105.
Given his circumstances and the greyness of urban life at the
beginning of the 1920s, it was virtually impossible for
Konchalovsky to work in his studio in winter. Therefore, the works
executed by him at Abramtsevo in the summers of 1920 and 1921
have acquired an even greater significance.
It was at Abramtsevo that Konchalovsky finally found his natural
subject – the famous oak grove. He was the first of many artists
painting in Abramtsevo to “discover” the oak grove. The towering
oaks grew freely, spaced well apart from one another, splendid in
their isolation and in the proportions of their small “architectural”
groups. Virtually every work executed by Konchalovsky from
1920 to 1921 centred on these “group portraits” of oaks. These
great trees were portrayed with the most refined sense of their
power, the heroic dimensions of their trunks and the great spread
of their branches, shrouded in their abundant and restrainedly
luxuriant, light green foliage.
In the autumn of 1920 an exhibition was held by the "Barbizon" group of
artists in Moscow, and this proved to be a major event for Konchalovsky’s
work. The following summer he returned to Abramtsevo in order to continue
his landscapes but influenced by the works he had seen at the exhibition.
He would passionately and repeatedly paint the oaks, portraying
them within what were physically small canvases but were nevertheless
remarkably monumental works. His Abramtsevo Park paintings became
less refined than his Still Lifes, and it was in these works that the artist
finally overcame the polychromy of previous years. A serene and dignified
tone reigns over everything, reconciling and absorbing the formerly
fragmented colour sensations. A Boy in the Park is a fine example of a small
Abramtsevo work which perfectly illustrates the spatial relationship
between the oaks and the two figures, those of a little boy and a horse,
and in which the “arboreal architecture” has been competently and solidly
constructed. In the opinion of the renowned art historian Pavel
Muratov, “These small Abramtsevo paintings inarguably rank
amongst the very best works ever produced by Konchalovsky”.
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.