Young lady with a garden beyond

The present lot relates to a commission for a curtain design for the new Moscow ‘Svobodnyi [Liberal] Theatre’ headed by Konstantin Mardzhanov that Somov received in 1912. The curtain was finished in the summer of 1913 and its design was consonant with Somov’s own artistic style, replete with features from commedia dell’arte: green bosquets, cupids, and coquettish characters. The centrepiece of the curtain, a phallic fountain, is echoed in the distinctive hair style of the woman in the foreground of the present composition. The fact that the work is painted on silk – a rarity in Somov's oeuvre (one other known example is the Test of a Fan on Silk, 1912) – suggests that Somov used the fabric to experiment prior to deciding between whether the curtain should be painted or embroidered with appliqués. In 1913, the curtain design was acquired from the artist by Vladimir Girshman (1867-1936) (now in the collection of the State Central Theatre Museum named after A. A. Bakhrushin, Moscow). According to the list of works by Somov from the archives of the Mikhailov family, another version of this curtain design, Curtain for the Free Theatre, was purchased from the artist in 1917 by Mikhail Braikevich (1874-1940) and indeed it is possible that Braikevich also purchased the present lot at the same time.

We are grateful to Elena Yakovleva, Doctor of Art History, Senior Researcher of the Russian Institute of Art History, St Petersburg for providing this catalogue note.