Alexander Evgenievich Iacovleff

Sandra Iacovleff (acquired directly from the artist)
Vose Galleries, Boston
Sale: Skinner, Inc., Boston, April 10, 1992, lot 63
Private Collection, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Fitchburg, Fitchburg Art Museum, Alexandre Iacovleff Memorial Exhibition, January-February 1954

This painting is essentially in untouched condition. The reverse of the canvas is painted by the artist. There is one patch in the upper right next to the hanging gourds and there is a small repair on the surface associated with this reinforcement on the reverse. The remainder of the painting is untouched. The paint layer has not been cleaned and is un-varnished. The damages that exist have not been restored. These have been applied to a scratch in the lower right corner, another scratch to the left of the head of the woman in the lower left corner, and to a further scratch to her fingers in the lower center. Elsewhere there are a few small paint losses above the woman's head in the hanging garlic. The grainy and abraded paint layer behind the fish in the case beneath the wine is original and throughout the remainder of the picture the paint layer is all as intended by Iacovleff. Varnish is not appropriate for a painting in tempura and although the paint layer may be slightly dirty, cleaning must be very carefully considered before any work is carried out. 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."

Sidewalk Shop, Capri is a dazzling representation of Iacovleff's sojourn on the Italian isle in 1929. He set up a studio there and painted a significant number of pictures between sporting breaks in the bay. These images are unique in the artist's oeuvre for their pastel palette and daringly loose brushstroke, perhaps reflecting the leisurely and even playful approach to art that these environs inspired in him. Yet for all its seeming simplicity, Iacovleff's Capri output underscores his brilliant skill as a colorist, as well as his unexpectedly well-grounded understanding of Impressionist technique. He may have traveled the world, ambitiously striving to record the faces and places he saw with restrained clarity, but his time in Capri released in Iacovleff something beautifully free and relaxed. On more than one occasion he acknowledged the effect the place had on him and, according to friend and biographer Martin Birnbaum, the artist's dying wish was that his "ashes be strewn on the emerald waters of his beloved Capri" (Jacovleff and Other Artists, 1946, p. 22).

In 1934 Iacovleff was invited to become head of the painting department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he became acquainted with the Vose family and elected for them to represent his artwork in the states. This particular painting was left to the artist's surviving sister, Sandra, before making its way to Vose Galleries with the rest of his estate.