Konstantin Ivanovich Gorbatov

The Varbalow Estate, New Jersey
Renaissance Art Gallery, Philadelphia, circa 1980s
Acquired from the above by the present owner

John Castagno, European Artists: Signatures and Monograms, 1800-1990, London, 1990, p. 243, illustrated

This painting is essentially in perfect condition. The canvas has never been lined. It is most likely quite dirty and will clean to reveal a more sun dappled image. The paint layer is stable and there appear to be no damages or restorations. The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Konstantin Gorbatov was born in the small Volga river town of Stavropol. After initially studying architecture at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, he transferred to the painting department where he studied under Nikolai Dubovskoy and Aleksandr Kiselev, though he was most influenced by Ilya Repin and Arkhip Kuindzhi. In 1911, Gorbatov was officially granted the title of Artist and awarded a gold medal at an international exhibition in Munich. The following year he traveled to Europe on scholarship, stopping in Capri to visit Gorky. Gorbatov fell in love with Italy during this first visit, and he began to experiment and perfect his unique Impressionistic style.

He returned to Russia and continued to develop his technique, but he was criticized for his Romantic renderings, which appeared to favor beauty over realism. At that time the environment in Russia was not supportive of untraditional artists; critics rejected Impressionist ideals and scorned art as a means to financial success. Gorbatov returned to Capri in 1922, leaving behind a country torn apart by revolution. By contrast, Italy was the perfect home for the artist; he remained there until 1926, traveling between Capri and Venice, finding inspiration in the colors and warmth of the Italian countryside. Finally freed from the artistic restrictions of post-revolutionary Russia, Gorbatov fused Impressionistic technique with Romantic tendencies inspired by Kuindzhi, creating art that "depict[ed] life not the way it is but the way it could be" (The New Hermitage Museum, Konstantin Gorbatov, 2003). This style was ideal for rendering vibrant and sunny surroundings, and the magical paintings that resulted brought him both artistic respect and considerable profit. The Italian newspaper Il Messagero commended Gorbatov's artistic talents in an article dated March 14, 1926: "...the heart pounds with joy to see something so dear to us: Naples, Capri, Amalfi, Venice, Ravello. Running grape vines, orange branches, terraces in the sun over our sea. The beauty of the landscape and the sunlight are smoothed by the artist, who has seen nature... This arouses our sympathy; his feeling is so strong that the artist's reality feels like ours."

Patio in Capri is one of the most striking canvases of Gorbatov's Italian period. It might be read as an homage to Sylvestr Shchedrin (1791-1830), the early 19^th-century landscape artist whose greatest pictures were painted in Italy and were well-known to all Russian painters. Patio in Capri appears to be particularly inspired by Shchedrin's Terrace on the Sea Coast of 1828, which similarly portrayed the idyllic Italy of the Russian imagination. Both compositions depict vine-wrapped terraces above the sea in a seemingly magical place where man and nature exist together in harmonious beauty. Like Shchedrin, Gorbatov implemented an innovative palette to better evoke the varying qualities of light found along the coast, meanwhile capturing a perfect moment in time, a quiet afternoon in Capri. Gorbatov's brushstrokes are graceful yet bold, gesturing the tiny flecks of light that reflect the sunshine that shimmers through the trees and softly illuminates the shadow-speckled patio. The mountains, sky and sea appear hazy in the distance, while splashes of vibrant oranges, reds and purples in the fabrics and flowers along the patio create focal points for the eye.

In the year after he completed the present lot, Gorbatov left Capri and moved with his wife to Berlin. Despite this dramatic change in surroundings, he continued to paint Italian landscapes throughout the remainder of his career, and he returned annually to Capri and Venice until the outbreak of World War II.