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Lot Essay
It was at the artistic colony of Abramtsevo, owned by the pioneering collector and patron Savva Mamontov (1841-1918), that Mikhail Vrubel was inspired to produce some of his greatest works. In the late 1880s, it was here that a number of artists, including Viktor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov and Vrubel himself, set out to revive the art of Italian maiolica ceramics - the fine earthenware with coloured decoration set against an opaque white tin glaze.
The sculptural qualities and pictorial possibilities of maiolica captivated Vrubel and he became fascinated by the unexpected effects, lustrous glazes, intricate colour-workings and metallic patinas produced during the firing process. He soon headed the ceramics studio and created a series of figures including Lel', Snegurochka, Sadko and Kupava, derived from folk prototypes. In the late 1890s ceramics from Abramtsevo were exhibited widely, including at Diaghilev's exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1898 and the Paris World Exhibition in 1900.
The present model has different titles in the literature dedicated to Mikhail Vrubel, often recorded as Girl with a Wreath, or Snegurochka [The Snow Maiden], and rarely referred to as Egyptian. The features of the model, who seems to be immersed in her thoughts, resemble Nadeshda Zabela, Vrubel's muse and wife. They met at the end of 1895, which suggests that this model could have been created in 1896 at the earliest.
Nadezhda Zabela was an opera singer and played the leading role of the Snow Maiden in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Snegurochka starting from 1898. Nadezhda was impeccable in her role, embodying young Snegurochka who fell in love with a young man but melted away when the spring sun shined on her. Rimsky-Korsakov admired his lead singer, often writing his next pieces specially for Zabela’s soprano.
Similar versions of this model are held at the Abramtsevo Museum Estate (see P.K. Suzdalev, Vrubel, Moscow, 1991, p. 232, no. 93) and the State Tretyakov Gallery (see Exhibition Catalogue, Mikhail Vrubel v Tretyakovskoy Galeree, muzeyah i chastnyh sobraniah Moskvy, Moscow, 1997, pp. 194-195, no. 202).
The sculptural qualities and pictorial possibilities of maiolica captivated Vrubel and he became fascinated by the unexpected effects, lustrous glazes, intricate colour-workings and metallic patinas produced during the firing process. He soon headed the ceramics studio and created a series of figures including Lel', Snegurochka, Sadko and Kupava, derived from folk prototypes. In the late 1890s ceramics from Abramtsevo were exhibited widely, including at Diaghilev's exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1898 and the Paris World Exhibition in 1900.
The present model has different titles in the literature dedicated to Mikhail Vrubel, often recorded as Girl with a Wreath, or Snegurochka [The Snow Maiden], and rarely referred to as Egyptian. The features of the model, who seems to be immersed in her thoughts, resemble Nadeshda Zabela, Vrubel's muse and wife. They met at the end of 1895, which suggests that this model could have been created in 1896 at the earliest.
Nadezhda Zabela was an opera singer and played the leading role of the Snow Maiden in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Snegurochka starting from 1898. Nadezhda was impeccable in her role, embodying young Snegurochka who fell in love with a young man but melted away when the spring sun shined on her. Rimsky-Korsakov admired his lead singer, often writing his next pieces specially for Zabela’s soprano.
Similar versions of this model are held at the Abramtsevo Museum Estate (see P.K. Suzdalev, Vrubel, Moscow, 1991, p. 232, no. 93) and the State Tretyakov Gallery (see Exhibition Catalogue, Mikhail Vrubel v Tretyakovskoy Galeree, muzeyah i chastnyh sobraniah Moskvy, Moscow, 1997, pp. 194-195, no. 202).