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Lot Essay
'...the vision of Grigoriev is in essence romantic. It is romantic as Gorky is romantic; romantic as are the soul-racked pages of Fyodor Dostoevsky. In brief, it is feeling, not form, that maintains ascendancy in these vital, invigorating canvases.'
--Christian Brinton, 1924
Painted in 1922-23, Les enfants is a powerful image that showcases Grigoriev's unique abilities as a portraitist. Documented in Grigoriev's personal archive (Fig. 1), this painting is a testament to Grigoriev's skill at rendering emotional intensity and his propensity to imbue a canvas with palpable drama. Furthermore, the painting dates from Grigoriev's seminal period in New York, during which he exhibited widely with great success, was lauded by the critic Christian Brinton and enthusiastically promoted by James Rosenberg, the founder of the influential New Gallery in New York. Grigoriev's arresting figures made a profound impression upon the American public who were enthralled by the hidden narratives of his insightful portraits.
In 1922 Florence Cane (1882-1952) commissioned Grigoriev to paint a portrait of her twin daughters, Katherine (b. 1910) and Mary (1910-2003). Herself a painter, Florence and her husband, Melville Cane (1879-1980) - a copyright lawyer and published poet - were part of a thriving artistic community that included the artists Marsden Hartley, Alfred Stieglitz, John Marin, Joseph Stella, and Arthur Dove, as well as poets and novelists including e. e. cummings and Thomas Wolfe. At this time, Grigoriev was experiencing international success for his Rasseïa cycle (circa 1916-1921) which combined his gift for portraiture with a steely critical eye and looked to the Russian countryside and peasant village life for subject-matter.
Born in Rybinsk, Boris Grigoriev studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg under Aleksandr Kiselev and Dmitrii Kardovskii before relocating to Paris in 1912, where he attended the Acadmie de la Grande Chaumière. Drawing inspiration from icon painting, Grigoriev painted many of the most important figures in Russian culture, including Anna Akhmatova, Boris Kustodiev and Nicholas Roerich. His distinctive grotesque stylisation, with its emphasis on line, lent itself to graphic work, as seen in his illustrations for the publications Novyi Satirikon and Apollon. Grigoriev's style was as innovative as it was au courant; as the critic Igor Grabar later observed; 'He took what he considered necessary - something from Cubism, a little from Czanne - and worked out his own Grigoriev-esque style, which on one side, touched on the work of Petrov-Vodkin, on the other, that of the French Post-Impressionists.' (I. Grabar, as cited in D. Ia. Severiukhin and O. L. Leikind, Khudozhniki russkoi emigratsii (1917-1941),St. Petersburg, 1994, p. 171). As with his other cycles, including Intimité (1914-18) and Boui Bouis (1921), for Rasseia Grigoriev chose everyday people as his subjects, finding in the farmers, sailors and showgirls a psychological depth that he was able to capture on canvas. As Louis Rau explains: 'the title Rassea was chosen to suggest a land of villages and boroughs populated by peasants and workmen - the Russia that Grigoriev wished to capture in his portraits and genre scenes' (B. Grigoriev, Faces of Russia, London, 1924, p. 16). Grigoriev's portraits effectively transformed these figures into modern-day oracles, imparting a sense of gravitas and universal wisdom; it was precisely this exotic, yet human, glimpse of Russia that delighted a rapt American audience.
Given Grigoriev's burgeoning reputation, it is no surprise that Florence and Melville Cane approached the artist with a commission. Born in New York City on 20 September 1910, the twins were 12-13 and on the cusp of adolescence at the time the portrait was painted; Grigoriev beautifully conveys the innocence in their wide-eyed expressions and long-limbed awkwardness. This work makes an intriguing comparison with The Children (Fig. 2), exhibited alongside Les enfants at the Worcester Art Museum in 1924. In the former, the children appear far older than their years; the boy's true age is only revealed by his clothing. His lugubrious face is turned towards the girl; his gaze is fixed upon her in a look expressing dependence, expectation or perhaps even desire - all feelings synonymous with adolescence. Despite the physical proximity of the children, Grigoriev expresses the gulf between them; the clenched fist and tense expression of the girl reveals a hidden torment which cannot be assuaged. By contrast, Les enfants conveys the connection between the sisters - the obvious physical similarities paralleled by the delicate placement of their hands signifying their close bond. There is a similar depth of feeling, perhaps even anxiety, conveyed by the questioning expressions of the girls; however, it is evident that in this portrait, the children gather strength from each other. The youth and purity of the sisters is further intensified by their luminous dresses which create a crisp silhouette against the monochromatic background.
The emphasis on the psychological landscape of the sitter, for which Grigoriev became known, would have also been of interest to Florence Cane and her sister Margaret Naumberg, a respected pioneer in art therapy. Perhaps best known as the Director of Art for the Counseling Centre for Gifted Children at New York University, Florence Cane also wrote the influential The Artist in Each of Us. Based largely on psychoanalytic principles, this 1951 book was later re-edited and reprinted in 1983 by her daughters captured by Grigoriev, later known as Mary Cane Robinson and Katherine Cane Detré.
--Christian Brinton, 1924
Painted in 1922-23, Les enfants is a powerful image that showcases Grigoriev's unique abilities as a portraitist. Documented in Grigoriev's personal archive (Fig. 1), this painting is a testament to Grigoriev's skill at rendering emotional intensity and his propensity to imbue a canvas with palpable drama. Furthermore, the painting dates from Grigoriev's seminal period in New York, during which he exhibited widely with great success, was lauded by the critic Christian Brinton and enthusiastically promoted by James Rosenberg, the founder of the influential New Gallery in New York. Grigoriev's arresting figures made a profound impression upon the American public who were enthralled by the hidden narratives of his insightful portraits.
In 1922 Florence Cane (1882-1952) commissioned Grigoriev to paint a portrait of her twin daughters, Katherine (b. 1910) and Mary (1910-2003). Herself a painter, Florence and her husband, Melville Cane (1879-1980) - a copyright lawyer and published poet - were part of a thriving artistic community that included the artists Marsden Hartley, Alfred Stieglitz, John Marin, Joseph Stella, and Arthur Dove, as well as poets and novelists including e. e. cummings and Thomas Wolfe. At this time, Grigoriev was experiencing international success for his Rasseïa cycle (circa 1916-1921) which combined his gift for portraiture with a steely critical eye and looked to the Russian countryside and peasant village life for subject-matter.
Born in Rybinsk, Boris Grigoriev studied at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg under Aleksandr Kiselev and Dmitrii Kardovskii before relocating to Paris in 1912, where he attended the Acadmie de la Grande Chaumière. Drawing inspiration from icon painting, Grigoriev painted many of the most important figures in Russian culture, including Anna Akhmatova, Boris Kustodiev and Nicholas Roerich. His distinctive grotesque stylisation, with its emphasis on line, lent itself to graphic work, as seen in his illustrations for the publications Novyi Satirikon and Apollon. Grigoriev's style was as innovative as it was au courant; as the critic Igor Grabar later observed; 'He took what he considered necessary - something from Cubism, a little from Czanne - and worked out his own Grigoriev-esque style, which on one side, touched on the work of Petrov-Vodkin, on the other, that of the French Post-Impressionists.' (I. Grabar, as cited in D. Ia. Severiukhin and O. L. Leikind, Khudozhniki russkoi emigratsii (1917-1941),St. Petersburg, 1994, p. 171). As with his other cycles, including Intimité (1914-18) and Boui Bouis (1921), for Rasseia Grigoriev chose everyday people as his subjects, finding in the farmers, sailors and showgirls a psychological depth that he was able to capture on canvas. As Louis Rau explains: 'the title Rassea was chosen to suggest a land of villages and boroughs populated by peasants and workmen - the Russia that Grigoriev wished to capture in his portraits and genre scenes' (B. Grigoriev, Faces of Russia, London, 1924, p. 16). Grigoriev's portraits effectively transformed these figures into modern-day oracles, imparting a sense of gravitas and universal wisdom; it was precisely this exotic, yet human, glimpse of Russia that delighted a rapt American audience.
Given Grigoriev's burgeoning reputation, it is no surprise that Florence and Melville Cane approached the artist with a commission. Born in New York City on 20 September 1910, the twins were 12-13 and on the cusp of adolescence at the time the portrait was painted; Grigoriev beautifully conveys the innocence in their wide-eyed expressions and long-limbed awkwardness. This work makes an intriguing comparison with The Children (Fig. 2), exhibited alongside Les enfants at the Worcester Art Museum in 1924. In the former, the children appear far older than their years; the boy's true age is only revealed by his clothing. His lugubrious face is turned towards the girl; his gaze is fixed upon her in a look expressing dependence, expectation or perhaps even desire - all feelings synonymous with adolescence. Despite the physical proximity of the children, Grigoriev expresses the gulf between them; the clenched fist and tense expression of the girl reveals a hidden torment which cannot be assuaged. By contrast, Les enfants conveys the connection between the sisters - the obvious physical similarities paralleled by the delicate placement of their hands signifying their close bond. There is a similar depth of feeling, perhaps even anxiety, conveyed by the questioning expressions of the girls; however, it is evident that in this portrait, the children gather strength from each other. The youth and purity of the sisters is further intensified by their luminous dresses which create a crisp silhouette against the monochromatic background.
The emphasis on the psychological landscape of the sitter, for which Grigoriev became known, would have also been of interest to Florence Cane and her sister Margaret Naumberg, a respected pioneer in art therapy. Perhaps best known as the Director of Art for the Counseling Centre for Gifted Children at New York University, Florence Cane also wrote the influential The Artist in Each of Us. Based largely on psychoanalytic principles, this 1951 book was later re-edited and reprinted in 1983 by her daughters captured by Grigoriev, later known as Mary Cane Robinson and Katherine Cane Detré.