Lot 697: NICHOLAS VASILIEFF

RUSSIAN, 1892-1970
STILL-LIFE WITH FISH

measurements
24 1 /4 by 34 in.

alternate measurements
61.7 by 86.3 cm

signed N. Vasilieff and dated 45 (lower right)

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University, Kansas
Private collection

NOTE

Nicholas Vasilieff was a student of Korovin, Pasternak and Serov at the Moscow College. During 1911-1914 he studied alongside Vladimir and David Burliuk who introduced Vasilieff to experimentations in Neo-Primitivism, espoused by fellow artists such as Larionov and Goncharova, among others. The interest in traditional Russian art, crafts, icons, lubki, and even children's art inspired these artists to create anti-academic works that focused on unusual perspective with complex facture. The present work echoes the Neo-Primitivist aesthetic of these early years.