Lot 38: Portrait of Fu Wenzhou

Aleksandr Evgen'evich Iakovlev (1887-1938)
Portrait of Fu Wenzhou
signed and dated 'A Iakovleff/Aksou/9 Oct/1931 (lower center), further inscribed 'Fou Ping Tchin/Ambar of Aksou' (lower left), Chinese calligraphy 'The travelers have passed through the Xinjiang Province and were amazed by the beauty of the landscape. Iakovlev had assisted the leader of the expedition,' seal of Fu Wenzhou (upper right), artist's stamp (center left)
charcoal and sanguine on paper
13½ x 10½ in. (34.3 x 26.7 cm.)

VARIOUS PROPERTIES



In 1931 Alexandr Iakovlev was once again invited to join a Citrokn expedition. The Trans-Asiatic expedition, known as La Croisikre Jaune, followed on the immense success of La Croisihre Noire (see lot 36). A column of caterpillar tred-equipped vehicles started in Beirut and took one year to reach thier destination in Indochina (fig.1). Iakovlev worked constantly, drawing people and sights they encountered along the way. Often these portraits were given as gifts to the sitters and insured a safe passage through hostile territories.