YACOVLEFF Alexandre Yevgenïévitch (1887-1938).

Lot 275
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Estimation :
12000 - 15000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 14 812EUR
YACOVLEFF Alexandre Yevgenïévitch (1887-1938).
Portrait of a Mandarin. Sanguine and charcoal on paper, signed lower right, dated 1917 and located in Peking, preserved under glass in an antique blackened wood frame. Tears on the right, but good condition. Sight: H.: 65 cm - W.: 49 cm. Frame: H.: 69.5 cm - W.: 54 cm. Biography: Alexander Yevgenyevich Yacovleff studied at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg, where he became friends with Vasilli Shukhaeff. In 1898, Yacovleff became a member of "Mir Iskousstva" (The World of Art), an association of Russian artists advocating the ideas of pictorial renewal in Russian art by synthesizing all art forms, including theater, decoration and book art. It was in this context that he collaborated with Alexandre Benois (1870-1960) and Serge de Diaghilew (1872-1929) for 10 years, from 1908 to 1918. As a draftsman, he also contributed to the publication of new art magazines in Russia and Europe. After the Russian Revolution, he moved to Paris in 1920. It was here that he was made an Officer of the Légion d'honneur a few years later. But he owes his greatest fame to the ethnic testimony he left to history, following his travels in Africa and Asia, notably China, Japan and Tibet, whose memories he immortalized through numerous series of portraits of men and women in traditional dress. His works, often executed in charcoal or red chalk, are highly sought-after and can be found in the world's greatest museums. Reference: the portrait of this man is a preparatory sketch for the large group painting of an assembly of notables at the Peking theater, executed by the artist during his stay in China in September 1917. See the illustration of this painting in the book "Iacovlev painted by a Russian in China 1918". This work was subsequently exhibited in Shanghai in 1919, in London in 1920, and in Paris at the Galerie Barbazangues (opposite). The purpose of Yacovleff's first trip to China was to gather ethnographic material for the frescoes he was to paint for the waiting room at Moscow's Kazansky station.
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