Konstantin Korovin, Chana Orloff, Emile Othon Friesz… the Modern and Impressionist Art department unveils a preview of some of the treasures that will be presented for sale on 22 March 2023 at Tajan
La pêche by Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939)
La pêche, a rare and early work by Konstantin Korovin, differs from the scenes of Parisian nightlife that the artist used to paint. In this painting, which is part of the first period of his artistic career, we find the virtuosity of his brushwork in emerald greens and lapis blues. Korovin treats the composition as an embroidery of light and colour, evoking his native land with its scattered birch trees. The Peach was exhibited at the famous Baltic Exhibition in Malmö, Sweden, in 1914, the year following its creation. The painting belonged to a French industrialist who was stationed in Russia at the turn of the century and was a great friend of Konstantin Korovin. The painting was given to him before he left Russia in 1917. Cherished in the same French collection for several generations, Tajan Auction House is honoured to bring to light this masterpiece by the founder of Russian Impressionism.
KONSTANTIN KOROVIN (1861-1939)
La pêche, 1913
Oil on canvas; signed and dated lower right
93 X 74 CM – 36 5/8 X 29 1/8 IN.
80 000/120 000€
PROVENANCE
Collection of a French industrialist posted in Russia until 1917 (offered by the artist)
Then by descent
Private collection, France
EXHIBITIONS
Moscow, Union of Russian Artists, 1913-1914, p.12, n°186 (not reproduced)
Malmö, Malmö Konstmuseum, Baltic Exhibition,
15 May to 4 October 1914 (presented under the title ‘At the Mill’)
About the artist
Born into a merchant family in Moscow, Konstantin Korovin (1861-1939) showed an early interest in art. At the age of 14, he enrolled in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied under the famous landscape artists Aleksei Savrasov and Vasily Polenov, who would influence his work. In the 1880s, Korovin made a series of trips in Russia and abroad. Not surprisingly, the painter fell under the spell of Paris and Impressionism. Considered the pioneer of Russian Impressionism, his works are marked by a sensitivity all his own. The painter displays his talents in paintings representing severe and dark landscapes such as those of Norway or northern Russia, as well as in compositions with vivid and warm colours reflecting the light of the Crimea.
Archive photograph of the Malmö Konstmuseum
Seated Woman by Chana Orloff (1888-1968)
“Chana Orloff likes to sit her models. “It’s so that they don’t get too tired,” she told me. Any image of pain is painful for her, it never represents an effort. On the contrary, it represents a supple and abandoned presence. Of course, in this case, the seat and its backrest must also be represented, and these are objects that the art of sculpture usually dismisses as not very plastic, not very susceptible to the generalisation and ennoblement to which it is understood that sculpture should tend. But sculpture, with Chana Orloff, tends towards something else, which is a kind of moved and simple familiarity. I find Chana Orloff’s seated women particularly convincing; they delight me. It is perhaps in them that the art she possesses of playing with shadows, of accepting them, of modelling and animating her forms, and of giving her materials, even the most severe of which is bronze, some quivering tenderness, appears in the most persuasive way. Such is the miracle of truth.
Jean Cassou, op. Chana Orloff, p. 24.
CHANA ORLOFF (1888-1968)
Seated woman (Mrs Krohg), 1958
Bronze with brown patina
Signed, dated and stamped with the foundry mark ‘Susse/Fondeur
Bronze with brown patina; signed, dated and stamped with the foundry mark ‘Susse/Fondeur’
55 X 24 X 40 CM – 21 5/8 X 9 1/2 X 15 3/4 IN.
10 000/15 000€
The Chana Orloff Museum workshop has confirmed the authenticity of this work. A certificate can be issued at the buyer’s expense.
Le verger by Emile Othon Friesz (1879-1949)
Le verger was painted by Emile Othon Friesz in 1939 while he was staying in Normandy. Some time before the outbreak of war, the committed artist took part in an operation near Honfleur to protect the territory by reporting parachutes and suspicious individuals. The Normandy countryside also offered him a variety of landscapes that allowed him to deepen his post-impressionist experiments.
“Othon Friesz loved quiet bonhomie because he was tender and sincere; he liked to forget the official constraints of his life as a great artist and it was perhaps thanks to this liberation of his inner self that he painted his most beautiful works with his vigour and powerful personality. No feverishness in Othon Friesz, but calmness, perfect craftsmanship and a great capacity for evocation were the essential gifts of this great artist.
Maurice Saelens, in E. Othon Friesz, Honfleur, cat. exp. Salles d’exposition du grenier à sel, 1971.
ÉMILE OTHON FRIESZ (1879-1949)
Le Verger, 1939
Oil on canvas, signed and dated ’39’ lower right
Signed with initials, located and dated on the back
Oil on canvas; signed and dated ’39’ lower right; signed with the artist’s initials, located and dated on the reverse
65 X 81 CM – 25 5/8 X 31 7/8 IN.
10 000/15 000€
PROVENANCE
Sale, Me Blache, Versailles, 20 November 1960, lot 74
Private collection, France
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Robert Martin, Odile Aittouarès, Émile Othon Friesz, L’œuvre peint, Paris: 1995, reproduced in black and white under n°391, p. 156
SALE INFORMATION
Impressionist and Modern Art
Wednesday 22nd March 2023
15h
Tajan, 37 rue des Mathurins
75008 Paris
CONTACTS
Eva PALAZUELOS
Head of Impressionist and Modern Art Department
T. +33 1 53 30 30 48
[email protected]
Marjorie GROUZIS
Impressionist and Modern Art Specialist
+33 1 53 30 31 06
[email protected]
Press and Communication Department
T. +33 1 53 30 30 68
37, rue des Mathurins, 75008 Paris
[email protected]