Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926)

Kiribeevich and Alena Dmitrievna from The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov

Details

Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926)
Kiribeevich and Alena Dmitrievna from The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov
signed in Cyrillic and dated 'Viktor Vasnetsov/1891' (lower left)
charcoal on paper
27½ x 19¾ in. (50 x 70 cm.)
Drawn in 1891

Provenance

Leo Maskovskii (1882-1972), Riga.
By descent to the present owner.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Vystavka russkoi zhivopisi dvukh poslednykh stoletii (An exhibition of Russian Art from the last 200 years), Riga, 1932, listed p. 17, no. 221.
N. Morgunov, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, Moscow, 1962, p. 433, no. 2.

Exhibited

Riga, Riga City Art Museum, Vystavka russkoi zhivopisi dvukh poslednykh stoletii (An exhibition of Russian Art from the last 200 years), 4-18 December 1932, no. 221.

Brought to you by

Alexis de Tiesenhausen

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

atiesenhausen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2605

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The present work is one of four illustrations Vasnetsov produced to illustrate Mikhail Lermontov's (1814-1841) A Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilievich, the Young Oprichnik, and the Valorous Merchant Kalashnikov, often known as The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov, in a collection of Lermontov's essays published by I. N. Kushnerev. Ivan Aivazovsky and Vasnetsov's younger brother, Apollinary, also produced illustrations for the publication. Written in 1837, Lermontov's poem tells the story of Kiribeevich, a member of the Tsar's guard who has abducted Alena, the wife of the merchant Kalashnikov. A fist-fight ensues and Kiribeevich is killed. Despite Alena's pleas, Kalashnikov is condemned to death.

More from Russian Art

View All