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Lot Essay
The first works of art to impress Iakunchikova were the landscapes by Isaak Levitan whom she met at the Polenov household in 1887. Her early enthusiasm for landscape painting recalls the words of Konstantin Korovin, 'Landscape must not simply be depicted without purpose, it must tell the story of the soul, respond to the heart's feelings. It is an art something like music'.
Vvedenskoe, the Iakunchikova family estate, was built during the reign of the Emperor Paul I and situated on the outskirts of Moscow. From the windows was a vast panoramic view; to the right was the town of Zvenigorod, and to the left was the 12th-century cathedral and the Sava-Storozhevskoi monastery. Although Vvendenskoe was sold in 1884, the estate remained Iakunchikova's spiritual home and to a certain extent a vantage point from which to view the outside world.
The symbolic importance of Vvedenskoe is reflected by the composition of the present painting. The columns which frame the landscape remind us that we are viewing the scene though Iakunchikova, the weight of her experiences personalise the space and invest the canvas with a history and ultimately her story. Often in Iakunchikova's works the viewer is positioned at a middle-point; as if to emphasise that we are only able to see what lies ahead with the perspective provided by what lies behind us.
In 1897 Iakunchikova painted a similar composition in landscape format entitled From the window of the old house, Vvedenskoe which is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (see M. Kiselev, Maria Iakunchikova, Moscow, 1979, illustrated p. 98).
Vvedenskoe, the Iakunchikova family estate, was built during the reign of the Emperor Paul I and situated on the outskirts of Moscow. From the windows was a vast panoramic view; to the right was the town of Zvenigorod, and to the left was the 12th-century cathedral and the Sava-Storozhevskoi monastery. Although Vvendenskoe was sold in 1884, the estate remained Iakunchikova's spiritual home and to a certain extent a vantage point from which to view the outside world.
The symbolic importance of Vvedenskoe is reflected by the composition of the present painting. The columns which frame the landscape remind us that we are viewing the scene though Iakunchikova, the weight of her experiences personalise the space and invest the canvas with a history and ultimately her story. Often in Iakunchikova's works the viewer is positioned at a middle-point; as if to emphasise that we are only able to see what lies ahead with the perspective provided by what lies behind us.
In 1897 Iakunchikova painted a similar composition in landscape format entitled From the window of the old house, Vvedenskoe which is in the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (see M. Kiselev, Maria Iakunchikova, Moscow, 1979, illustrated p. 98).