The Archer's Wife before the Tsar and his Retinue

细节

Ivan Iakovlevich Bilibin (1876-1942)
The Archer's Wife before the Tsar and his Retinue
signed with Cyrillic initials and dated 'I. B./1919-1935' (lower right)
pencil, brown ink and watercolour, on board
12¾ x 8¾ in. (32.4 x 22.2 cm.)

注意事项

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

拍场告示

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拍品专文

Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942) studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts under Il'ia Repin. A member of Mir iskusstva (World of Art), Bilibin's main interests lay in Russian folktale illustration and stage design. He left Russia in 1920 and pursued an artistic career in Egypt and France, returning to the Soviet Union in 1936 where he continued to illustrate Russian fairytales.
The present watercolour is an illustration for a Russian folktale entitled 'Go over there - I don't know where, bring something - I don't know what' (Podi tuda - ne znaiu kuda, prinesi to - ne znaiu chto). It was not uncommon for Bilibin to repeat popular compositions; an earlier version of 'The Archer's Wife before the Tsar and his Retinue'
dated 1919-25 was sold by Christie's, London, 21 April 1988, lot 127. For another comparative, dated in the same manner as the present lot, see S. V. Golynets, Ivan Bilibin, Leningrad, 1988, pl. 167.