Vladimir Davidovich Gudiashvili, 1896-1980

Acquired directly from the family of the artist

Paris, Galerie Joseph Billiet, 1925
Tbilisi, 1926

M.Kagan, Lado Gudiashvili, Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1984, listed and illustrated p.190, p.231
L.Zlatkevich, Lado Gudiashvili, Moscow, 1987, p.89
T.Kobaladze, Lado Gudiashvili: tainstvo krasoty, Tbilisi: Merani, 1988, illustrated p.125
B.Mantura, 'Some remarks on the art of Lado Gudiasvili' in Ex.Cat. Lado Gudiashili, Rome, 1991, p.11-12

 

B.Mantura, 'Some remarks on the art of Lado Gudiasvili' in Ex.Cat. Lado Gudiashili, Rome, 1991, p.11-12

The following condition report has been supplied by: Hamish Dewar Ltd, Fine Art Conservation, 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street St James's, London SW1Y 6BU tel + 44 (0)20 7930 4004, fax + 44 (0)20 7930 4100, hamish@hamishdewar.co.uk www.hamishdewar.co.uk Structural Condition The canvas is providing a stable and secure support. Paint surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer with just some very minor abrasions and scratches in the upper and lower left corners. There are other even more minor surface abrasions. The paint surface fluoresces unevenly under ultra-violet light but there is no evidence of any retouching. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Gudiashvili's early association with the Tbilisi association of symbolist poets and writers The Blue Horn had a profound effect on the young artist, inspiring the same the desire for psychological impact in his own art and a penchant towards the imaginary and magical which would run through his entire oeuvre.
The beautifully serene and lyrical composition Green Nymphs dates to Gudiashvili's Paris period (1919-1925), and is possibly the finest early oil by him still in private hands. Gudiashvili achieved a great following in the French capital, with both European and American collectors as well as gallery-owners clamouring to purchase his paintings and drawings and he was an active participant in the Salon d'automne, regularly exhibiting alongside Derain, Matisse and Signac.
Throughout these 6 years away from Georgia, Gudiashvili's painting became infused with an ever-increasing nostalgia for his homeland, albeit couched within his fantastical universe.  Typically, the motherland is depicted as a beautiful woman, set against a background of exotic scenery, but in perfect harmony with it. Here, the defined ripples of the water echo the sensual curves of the nymphs' bodies.
In the offered work, as with many of his preceding compositions, humans and animals are shown in harmonious partnership, underscoring the artist's vision of a world in complete unity, and which can be traced back to the most primitive art. The presence of a bull with its allusion to the Greek legend of the Rape of Europa is a further unmistakable reference to the mythological undertones of his early works. Moreover, it firmly links Green Nymphs with the tradition of Russian Synthetism epitomised by World of Art artists such as Valentin Serov (fig.1)
The combination of undulating forms and the bright green and blue hues pulsating in waves of varying intensity throughout the composition, betray the influence of modern French masters such as Matisse, whose masterpiece of human movement, La danse provides a pertinent comparison with the offered lot (fig.2).
However, as L'Echo de Paris reported in 1925, "The Georgian Gudiashvili has studied in Paris and is as familiar with our artistic movements as he is with all our recipes, but he still remains completely Georgian." Indeed it was this national orientation which Maurice Raynal praised in the first foreign monograph of the artist at the time of Gudiashvili's 1925 show, where the offered lot was exhibited.
'The artist has felt it imperative to build the basis of his art on the foundations of popular Georgian art, which themselves could not have escaped the influence of Russian and Persian culture. Hence, he depicts these groups of elongated figures, painted in opaque hues, and slightly two-dimensional as in Byzantine art or Persian miniatures. Perspective [...] is cast aside in favour of a freer composition, and therefore results in a more inspired line and modelling.'
Green Nymphs can be considered the best work from Gudiashvili's  Parisian period and it is a measure of the artist's attachment to this composition that he chose to keep for himself and bring it back to Georgia in November 1925.