Boris Israilovich Anisfeld, 1879-1973

New York, Brooklyn Museum, The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition, 1918-1920, Cat. No. 10
Boston, Boston Art Club and Twentieth Century Club, Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Boris Anisfeld, 10 December 1924 - 3 January 1925, No. 16

The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition, Catalogue and Introduction by Christian Brinton, Redfield-Kendrick-Odell, New York, 1918, illustrated
Boris Anisfeld, Palace Editions, New York, 2001, p.12

Original canvas, which is lsightly loose on the stretcher. There is asmall patch visible lower centre of the canvas. There is a layer of light surface dirt. Minor abrasion to areas on inner frame edge. Fine lines of craquelure in places and minor flecks of paintloss. Examination under UV light reveals minor spots of retouching to the background. Held in a simple gold painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Boris Anisfeld's early work conveys the ideology of the Mir Iskusstva or World of Art group, a cultural climate prevailing in St. Petersburg at the beginning of the twentieth century, which aimed to endorse art for art's sake.

"Art was seen as a form of mystical experience, a means through which eternal beauty could be expressed and communicated - almost a new kind of religion" (Camilla Gray, The Russian Experiment in Art, 1863-1922, New York, Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1970, p.48). They drew their inspiration from the exotic or fantastic, often conveying a nostalgia for the past.

Between 1914 and 1917, the year in which Anisfeld left Russia, he was commissioned to paint mural decorations for the residence of a wealthy St. Petersburg lawyer identified as M.A. Wourgaft situated at Krestovka embankment, 2 on Kamenny ostrov. The few surviving preparatory sketches suggest that the décor comprised two themes: scenes from the cycle of day and night and images from the Greek myths, possibly the loves of Zeus (see Terenzio and Bruhn, Boris Anisfeld 1879-1973, The William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, 1979, p. 20-21). If this is the case, then Danaë in Green would fit perfectly into this part of Anisfeld's output both in terms of its subject and also the manner of its execution.

Danaë was confined to a bronze chamber by her father, Acrisius, King of Argos, because an oracle had predicted that his grandson would kill him. Zeus came to Danaë in a shower of gold and she consequently bore a son, Perseus. When Acrisius discovered this, he put them both in a chest and sent them out to sea. They drifted onto the island of Seriphos, where they were held hostage by King Polydectes, until Perseus grew up and was able to escape with his mother. The prophesy was finally fulfilled when Acrisius was indeed killed by a discus thrown by Perseus at the Olympic games (see Davidson Reid, The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts: 1300-1990s, Oxford University Press, 1993, vol. 1, p. 319).

In Danaë in Green, Anisfeld employs the same muted colour and sinuous lines we see in the decorative designs for the Wourgaft mansion. However, as the title would suggest, Danaë is not the main feature of this picture. The figures are almost indistinguishable from the background, serving as a framework for Anisfeld to explore the power and intensity of the colours he has used. Whilst the subject matter was important to the World of Art project, artists attempted to create an expressive and emotional whole through the combination of eclectic parts. For Anisfeld, it was one of these 'secondary' components which was the trigger for his artistic vision.

"I always see a thing first in colour, put down these visions and amplify and intensify the scheme at a later date." (R.J.Mesley, Boris Anisfeld: Fantast-Mystic, 12 Russian Paintings from the Collection of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum, Art Gallery of Ontario, January 1989, p.60)