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Lot Essay
Ivan Bilibin studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Art under Il'ia Repin. As a member of the Mir Iskusstva (World of Art) group, his main interests lay in Russian history, folk tales and folk art. He became particularly well-known for his book illustration and stage designs.
In the spring of 1920, Bilibin left a Russia stricken by civil war and post-revolutionary unrest, and together with thousands of other refugees fled to Egypt. He settled in Cairo which became his home for the next five years (fig. 1). During that time Bilibin traveled extensively through Syria and Palestine where he produced a series of watercolors and oils of ancient towns and historic monuments, as well as scenes from Muslim history and contemporary genre scenes. Captivated by the exotic and colorful flavors of the East, Bilibin wrote to one of his friends in Paris, 'There are two Egypts, as you know: ancient, classical Egypt and Muslem Egypt. To begin with, I was captivated by the later, since it is easier to understand and is more familiar to us. Moreover, the Muslem part is, if you like, still alive today, and life goes on much the same as ever. The Muslem part of Cairo has its own specific features; the architecture is magnificent, much of the past remains, and everywhere there are bazaars, little shops, street-vendors, Bedouin beggars, Negroes, camels, donkeys arrayed in all kinds of ornaments, carpets, sweet-meats, fruits - in short, you can just sit down and draw an eastern fairy-tale.'
Later Ivan Bilibin gladly confessed that he was smitten by the luxuriance and imaginativeness of the lace-like eastern style and in particular by what he called its 'head-spinning ornamentation.' The colorful, fantastic, sun-drenched scenery of Cairo remained a powerful source of inspiration for the artist, and he continued to paint delightful Oriental scenes even when he moved to Paris in 1925. The present lot is from a later series of watercolors inspired by the artist's experiences in Egypt and executed in 1928 in Paris.
The watercolor shows a courtyard of Al-Azhar Mosque (fig. 2), the earliest mosque of Cairo's Fatimid Era and one of the world's most ancient Islamic universities. Groups of scholars are depicted conversing, visitors are kneeling on rugs offering their daily prayers, groups of students are patiently listening to the teaching of the scholar explaining ancient liturgical texts, and street vendors are offering refreshing drinks to the travelers and pilgrims who came from afar to this center of wisdom and learning.
The eastern period, which considerably widened Bilibin's scope as an easel painter, is characterized by brightly colored decorative landscapes of which the present lot is an important and rare example. In his own style and with a unique artistic sensibility, Bilibin followed the tradition started by Konstantin Makovsky and Vasilii Vereshchagin in the 1870s, which inspired the next generation of Russian artists such as Aleksandr Iakovlev, to explore the rich heritage and cultural diversity of the Middle East.
In the spring of 1920, Bilibin left a Russia stricken by civil war and post-revolutionary unrest, and together with thousands of other refugees fled to Egypt. He settled in Cairo which became his home for the next five years (fig. 1). During that time Bilibin traveled extensively through Syria and Palestine where he produced a series of watercolors and oils of ancient towns and historic monuments, as well as scenes from Muslim history and contemporary genre scenes. Captivated by the exotic and colorful flavors of the East, Bilibin wrote to one of his friends in Paris, 'There are two Egypts, as you know: ancient, classical Egypt and Muslem Egypt. To begin with, I was captivated by the later, since it is easier to understand and is more familiar to us. Moreover, the Muslem part is, if you like, still alive today, and life goes on much the same as ever. The Muslem part of Cairo has its own specific features; the architecture is magnificent, much of the past remains, and everywhere there are bazaars, little shops, street-vendors, Bedouin beggars, Negroes, camels, donkeys arrayed in all kinds of ornaments, carpets, sweet-meats, fruits - in short, you can just sit down and draw an eastern fairy-tale.'
Later Ivan Bilibin gladly confessed that he was smitten by the luxuriance and imaginativeness of the lace-like eastern style and in particular by what he called its 'head-spinning ornamentation.' The colorful, fantastic, sun-drenched scenery of Cairo remained a powerful source of inspiration for the artist, and he continued to paint delightful Oriental scenes even when he moved to Paris in 1925. The present lot is from a later series of watercolors inspired by the artist's experiences in Egypt and executed in 1928 in Paris.
The watercolor shows a courtyard of Al-Azhar Mosque (fig. 2), the earliest mosque of Cairo's Fatimid Era and one of the world's most ancient Islamic universities. Groups of scholars are depicted conversing, visitors are kneeling on rugs offering their daily prayers, groups of students are patiently listening to the teaching of the scholar explaining ancient liturgical texts, and street vendors are offering refreshing drinks to the travelers and pilgrims who came from afar to this center of wisdom and learning.
The eastern period, which considerably widened Bilibin's scope as an easel painter, is characterized by brightly colored decorative landscapes of which the present lot is an important and rare example. In his own style and with a unique artistic sensibility, Bilibin followed the tradition started by Konstantin Makovsky and Vasilii Vereshchagin in the 1870s, which inspired the next generation of Russian artists such as Aleksandr Iakovlev, to explore the rich heritage and cultural diversity of the Middle East.