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Lot Essay
Letters found in the archives of the Tolstoy Museum in Moscow between Tolstoy and Troubetzkoy detail a request from the sculptor to make an equestrian portrait of Tolstoy: 'Dear Count, I know from the Countess that you are very busy at the moment feeding the hungry. I do not wish to disturb you, but if you would still be inclined to pose for a statue on horseback, I would be very grateful.' (Exhibition catalogue, Paolo Troubetzkoy 1866-1938, Museo del Paesaggio, Verbania, 29 April-29 July 1990, p. 141).
Further letters found in the Moscow archives detail Troubetzkoy's lifelong admiration for Tolstoy, which led to another meeting between the two in 1910. Again Troubetzkoy sculpted a few variations of the author on horseback. The visit is documented in a photograph of Troubetzkoy fashioning a plastiscine model of the sculpture, which is signed by Tolstoy 'A mon ami Boulgakov Paul Troubetzkov, 12 juin 1910'. The present model of Tolstoy on horseback by Troubetzkoy drew attention from the artistic elite in its own time. Members of Mir Iskusstva were disappointed that no Russian museum acquired the statue.
Further letters found in the Moscow archives detail Troubetzkoy's lifelong admiration for Tolstoy, which led to another meeting between the two in 1910. Again Troubetzkoy sculpted a few variations of the author on horseback. The visit is documented in a photograph of Troubetzkoy fashioning a plastiscine model of the sculpture, which is signed by Tolstoy 'A mon ami Boulgakov Paul Troubetzkov, 12 juin 1910'. The present model of Tolstoy on horseback by Troubetzkoy drew attention from the artistic elite in its own time. Members of Mir Iskusstva were disappointed that no Russian museum acquired the statue.