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Lot Essay
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist's work being prepared by Olivier Bertrand.
The present work is an enchanting example of Ivan Pokhitonov's exquisite 'miniature' paintings, often compared to the works of the Little Dutch Masters. Born in 1875 the self-taught artist moved to Paris and quickly began exhibiting his works at the Salon de Champs-Élysées and local galleries.
The popularity of Pokhitonov's art rose precipitously; critics of the day paid particular attention to his technical skill. Known for his meticulous preparation of the small wooden panels he then used to depict vast plains and the expansive steppe, it was this sense of open space presented on such a small scale that Pokhitonov's collectors and contemporaries most admired.
Pommiers en fleurs was painted in 1885, a time when Pokhitonov was particularly influenced by the Barbizon school of realism. The artist beautifully captures the light in the sky before a storm: this transitional state of nature appealed greatly to the Barbizon school. As his great friend Emile Witmeur observed, Pokhitonov 'wanted to study wide spaces, the sun at its highest point, the changeable skies. A small piece becomes for him an inexhaustible source of detail rich in sensations, just as the human heart is rich in the nuances of feeling' ('Un peintre russe chantre de la Wallonie: Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov', La Vie Wallonne, 15 Mars, 1924).
The present work is an enchanting example of Ivan Pokhitonov's exquisite 'miniature' paintings, often compared to the works of the Little Dutch Masters. Born in 1875 the self-taught artist moved to Paris and quickly began exhibiting his works at the Salon de Champs-Élysées and local galleries.
The popularity of Pokhitonov's art rose precipitously; critics of the day paid particular attention to his technical skill. Known for his meticulous preparation of the small wooden panels he then used to depict vast plains and the expansive steppe, it was this sense of open space presented on such a small scale that Pokhitonov's collectors and contemporaries most admired.
Pommiers en fleurs was painted in 1885, a time when Pokhitonov was particularly influenced by the Barbizon school of realism. The artist beautifully captures the light in the sky before a storm: this transitional state of nature appealed greatly to the Barbizon school. As his great friend Emile Witmeur observed, Pokhitonov 'wanted to study wide spaces, the sun at its highest point, the changeable skies. A small piece becomes for him an inexhaustible source of detail rich in sensations, just as the human heart is rich in the nuances of feeling' ('Un peintre russe chantre de la Wallonie: Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov', La Vie Wallonne, 15 Mars, 1924).