Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin

Structural Condition The canvas would appear to be unlined but without disturbing the papered turnover and tacking edges I cannot be certain of this. Paint surface The paint surface has an even but discoloured varnish layer and there is clearly a film of surface dirt (which is particularly visible in the white pigment in the lower right of the composition) and cleaning would be beneficial. Inspection under ultra-violet shows a vertical line of retouchings in the lower left of the composition. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in very good and stable condition and should respond well to cleaning and revarnishing.
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On the Terrace is believed to have been executed in the late 1910s or early 1920s and is a superlative example of Korovin's creative output during his last years in Russia, prior to his emigration to France in 1923. It bears close parallels to two of his 1919 works, At the Window (Tula Museum of Fine Arts) and In a Room (Ivan Kramskoy Museum of Fine Arts, Voronezh), which also depict a lady in red in light-filled, familial surroundings.  

Korovin is rightly admired for his dazzling palette, but less often perceived are his bold experiments with perspective the depiction of light on tilted surfaces and the delicate interplay of cold and warm tones – all of which are used to great effect and with seeming effortlessness in the offered painting. Slabs of light and shade in the foreground deftly draw the viewer's attention from the chair towards the sitter, who is calmly poised in the midst of a kaleidoscope of acutely observed colours and reflections that splinter and dissolve in the background.