Lot 107: AFTER FEODOR ANTONOVICH MOLLER

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, USA 1812-1874 THE KISS bears signature in Cyrillic l.r. oil on canvas image size: 57 by 64cm, 22 1/2 by 25in.

The Kiss is unquestionably Moller's most celebrated masterpiece. Due to the extreme popularity of The Kiss during Moller's lifetime, several variants and copies were executed by not only by the artist himself but also by other well-known painters such as Karl Zigmund Valter (1783-1867) who was known to inscribe Moller's name on his own work. Moller's original version, completed in 1839 while the artist was in Rome, currently hangs in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. In 1840 Moller completed another copy of the work which was enthusiastically purchased by Tsar Nicholas I and displayed at Peterhof (its current whereabouts are unknown) and a third copy by the artist is considered one of the gems of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The present lot, executed in the 19th century, most likely during the artist's lifetime, bears witness to Moller's ability to capture a delicate and fleeting moment.