Lot 270: VLADIMIR ALEKSANDROVICH KUZNETSOV

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION 1878-1960 BACK FROM THE FIELDS signed in Cyrillic and dated 1923 l.r., further signed and titled in Cyrillic on the reverse oil on canvas 134 by 195cm, 52 3/4 by 77in

Phillips London, Russian Art, 2 April 1990, lot 9

Trained at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts under Vladimir Makovsky, Kuznetsov continued the tradition of the Russian Realist school into the 20th century. Many of his paintings depict life in remote areas of the Urals. His most celebrated work, God's People, hangs in the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg alongside another one of his paintings, Portrait of Emperor Nicolas II. Other works hang in regional museums, such as The Evening Before (Savitsky Art Gallery) and Public Merrymaking (Gorlovka Art Museum). Back from the Fields represents a rare opportunity to admire Kuznetsov’s work outside Russia. Its bright palette, expressive figures and monumental dimensions make this a superb masterwork of the Realist genre.