MacDougall's Russian Art Auctions 8-9 June 2011
8 June 2011
* 163. SHUKHAEV, VASILY (1887-1973)
Portrait of Kira Wolfenson , c. 1950-60s.
Tempera on canvas, 78 by 68 cm.
70,000-90,000 GBP
Provenance: Private collection, Europe.
Authenticity certificate from the expert Yu. Rybakova.
In terms of artistic style, the work of the outstanding Russian artist Vasily Shukhaev can be roughly divided into two basic periods: The first, the 1910s to the 1930s, determined the development and flowering of the artist's style and the second, post-war period, marked his revelation as a colourist. From the early 1950s, Shukhaev worked almost exclusively in tempera, achieving an extraordinary virtuosity and skill in this medium. His landscapes, still lifes and portraits of this period seem to bathe in the warmth of fertile Georgia - where the artist finally settled - and are distinguished by their particular, luminescent colouring and perfused and saturated with the clear, dazzling light of the Georgian sun. In Georgia, Vasily Shukhaev concentrated his attention on intimate portraits and created a whole series of brilliant, profound images of his contemporaries, figures of Georgian and Russian culture, including Kira Wolfenson, wife and comrade-in-arms of the poet and philologist Alexander Tsibulevsky.
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.