Lot 135: ALEXANDER KARLOVICH BEGGROV

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, UNITED KINGDOM 1841-1914 VIEW OF CONCARNEAU signed in Latin l.r., inscribed Concarneau and dated 1883 l.l. oil on canvas 28.5 by 41.2cm, 11 1/4 by 16 1/4 in.

Acquired by the grandparents of the present owner in Paris in the 1920s

Beggrov’s interest in marine views was derived from his career as a naval officer. On his first visit to France in 1874, to study painting under the guidance of Alexei Bogoliubov, the artist painted views of several port towns: Le Havre and Le Tréport in Normandy, as well as Concarneau in Brittany. On his return to Russia, Beggrov exhibited with the Peredvizhniki, but the call of the sea was too strong and he left again to command the frigate Svetlana, the subject of a work that now belongs to the Central Naval Museum in St Petersburg. He took this opportunity to return to France and to Concarneau. A work from the following year, The Port of Concarneau, is in the collection of the Saratov State Art Museum.