Ukrainia

Details

David Burliuk (1882-1967)
Ukrainia
signed 'Burliuk' (lower left)
oil on canvas
19 5/8 x 48 in. (49.7 x 121.9 cm.)

Provenance

Marussia Burliuk (1894-1967), the artist's wife.
Acquired directly from the above circa 1945.
By descent to the present owner.

Literature

K. Dreier, Burliuk, New York, 1944, illustrated p. 7, no. 5.

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Brought to you by

Iona Ballantyne

iballantyne@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2210

Lot Essay

Embellished with characteristically thick impasto and illustrated in Katherine Dreier's 1944 monograph, Burliuk, Ukrainia was acquired by the family of the present owner circa 1945. The critic Howard Devree aptly captured the artist's trademarks in a 1937 review published in the Magazine of Art: 'Burliuk has developed a fairly constant symbol of the human figure, a little, squat, large-headed being, which expresses something of the pitiability of man, but also something of his patience and humor [sic], some of his hope and his heavy brutality.' (quoted in K. Dreier, Burliuk, 1944, New York, p. 150).

More from Russian Art

View All