4 June 2014 Russian Art Auctions
4 June 2014
* 48. LEVITAN, ISAAK (1860-1900)
Autumn, signed.
Pastel and charcoal on paper, laid on cardboard, 50.5 by 73.5 cm.
200,000-300,000 GBP
Executed in the early 1890s.
Provenance: Collection of Ivan Tarasov, a prominent art collector, Moscow, c. 1944 (inscription on the reverse).
Authenticity certificate from the expert V. Petrov.
Authenticity has also been confirmed by the expert L. Torstensen.
Exhibited: Possibly, The 13th Periodical Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, Moscow, 1893.
Possibly, The 23rd Exhibition of the Society for Itinerant Art Exhibitions, Moscow, 1895, No. 103.
Literature: Exhibition catalogue, The 13th Periodical Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, Moscow, 1893, No. 3, possibly listed as Osen’ (Pastel’).
Exhibition catalogue, The 23rd Exhibition of the Society for Itinerant Art Exhibitions, Moscow, 1895, possibly listed as Osen’. Pastel’.
Isaac Levitan, the most renowned of Russian landscape artists, is represented in this catalogue by the elegiac pastel work, Autumn Day. Although Levitan is known primarily as a painter, the depth of his penetration into the life of nature and ability to capture its subtle changes are most apparent in his works on paper.
Levitan started to use pastels in the early 1890s, producing a whole series of striking and expressive works in the medium during the last decade of his life. As the art historian Alexei Fedorov-Davydov wrote in his monograph on Levitan: “The freedom and lightness of the artist’s figurative techniques are particularly apparent in the crayon strokes of these pictures... the intimate quality of pastel, its midway position between oil, on the one hand, and coloured drawing or water colour, on the other hand, give us a clear perception of the artist at work, as if the act of creation was unfolding before our eyes. We feel Levitan’s artistic individuality with a special immediacy, as if witnessing the movement of his hand.”
The airiness and softness of pastel enable the artist to convey the subtlest nuances of colour and to combine a generalised depiction of main masses with the expressiveness of certain details. The present lot demonstrates Levitan’s supreme mastery in a medium that was unusual for him. The picture captures the indefinable beauty and transient quality of Russian autumn.
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.