Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's… Read more
Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)

Sergei Ernst and Nicolas Benois, Zinkino

Details
Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Sergei Ernst and Nicolas Benois, Zinkino
signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois 1917./Zinkino (gouvernement Novgorod).' (lower left), further inscribed in Russian and dated 'Zinkino (Krivtsovo).17/30 VII 1917.' (lower right), with colour-notes; further numbered and dated 'no. 29 1923./no.37' (on the reverse)
pencil and watercolour on paper
11 x 17 ½ in. (28 x 44.5 cm.)
Provenance
Acquired directly from Anne Benois-Tcherkessoff (1895-1984), daughter of the artist, by Alexandre Djanchieff in Paris in the 1970s.
By descent to the present owner.
Special notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Brought to you by

Aleksandra Babenko
Aleksandra Babenko

Lot Essay

Sergei Ernst (1894-1980) was a noted art historian, critic and author of a number of seminal monographies dedicated to the foremost artists of Russia’s Silver Age, including Valentin Serov, Konstantin Somov and Alexandre Benois. He also contributed to the major art-historical publications of the time including Starye gody and Zhar-ptitsa. Having emigrated to Paris in 1925 with his lifelong friend and artist Dimitri Bouchène (1893-1993), Ernst became a central figure in the Russian émigré circle and was respected by his peers for his knowledge and indefatigable passion for art.
The present watercolour was painted in 1917, when Benois rented a dacha near the estate of Zinkino in the region of Novgorod. Ernst is depicted with Benois’ son, Nicolas (1901-1988), who at that time was studying under Alexandre Iacovleff (1887-1938) and Vasilii Shukhaev (1887-1973). Nicolas went on to become a celebrated stage designer, known principally for his work for La Scala in Milan.     

More from Russian Art

View All
View All