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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 present model is one of Troubetzkoy's early portraits of Tolstoy.
For comparable bronze and plaster models, see Exhibition catalogue, Paolo Troubetzkoy 1866-1938, Museo del Paesaggio, Verbania, 29 April-29 July 1990, pp. 140-141, nos. 78, 79. A comparable bronze was sold Christie's, London, 28 May 2012, lot 309.
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 present model is one of Troubetzkoy's early portraits of Tolstoy.
For comparable bronze and plaster models, see Exhibition catalogue, Paolo Troubetzkoy 1866-1938, Museo del Paesaggio, Verbania, 29 April-29 July 1990, pp. 140-141, nos. 78, 79. A comparable bronze was sold Christie's, London, 28 May 2012, lot 309.