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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLORADO COLLECTION NICOLAI FECHIN (1881-1955)

Eya

Details
NICOLAI FECHIN (1881-1955)
Eya
signed 'N. Fechin' (lower right)
oil on canvasboard
13 ¹/₂ x 12 in. (34.3 x 30.5 cm.)
Painted circa 1934-35.
Provenance
The artist.
John Burnham, acquired from the above, 1953.
Private collection, by descent from the above, 1977.
Fenn Galleries Ltd., Santa Fe, New Mexico, acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
Further details
This work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné being prepared by Galina Tuluzakova. We would like to thank Galina for her assistance with cataloging this lot.

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Lot Essay

From his earliest days as a student, Nicolai Fechin was captivated by portrait painting. The widely varied faces of the people he encountered in his native Russia provided the foundation for a storied career that spread across the globe. Like the great Ashcan artist and teacher, Robert Henri, Fechin chose his sitters based on the vitality and character they emanated. Never content with merely capturing a likeness on canvas, Fechin strove to portray a dignity and inner spirit of each subject. The present work is particualrly striking in its tenderness, as it depicts the artist's daughter, Eya, who boldly confronts the view with her piercing gaze.

According to Galina Tuluzakova, "Fechin's true mastery is revealed in the portraits of people he loved—his wife and daughter. Oil and charcoal portraits of Alexandra and Eya are imbued with sincerity and depth of feeling...Portraits of Eya are imbued with fatherly love and affection." (Nicolai Fechin: The Art and the Life, San Cristobal, New Mexico, 2012, pp. 128-29) Indeed, the present work establishes Eya's sweetness in her captivating gaze, complemented by the intimate proximity and abstracted background. Another portrait of the artist's daughter is in the collection of the Taos Art Museum, New Mexico.