Lot 31: NIKOLAI ANDREEVICH KOSHELEV, 1840-1918

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNTAIN

105 by 52in., 41 1/4 by 20 1/2 in.

signed in Cyrillic l.l. and dated 1900

oil on canvas

NOTE

Aged seventeen Nikolai Koshelev was commissioned to paint the frescos in a church within a monastery. As payment he asked for the financial means to study at the Academy of Fine Art in St.Petersburg, however the funds never materialised and it was not until 1860 that Koshelev was able to realise his dream. In 1865 he travelled to Moscow at the behest of Ivan Kramskoi, to complete the painting of the main cupola in the church of Christ the Saviour. Kramskoi had executed the main figures and Koshelev was asked to paint studies of the surrounding figures under the instruction of Alexei Markov. Specializing in religious subjects and genre scenes Koshelev worked in Vienna, Dresden, Frankfurt and Rome throughout his long career.