Filipp Andreevich Maliavin

The sheets are all discoloured and have a layer of surface dirt, minor media staining in places and have wear, minor nicks and tears to the edges. The upright portrait of the gentleman on a coloured stool has a repaired tear in the top right corner and an uneven upper edge. All unframed.
"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."

Maliavin’s ‘naïve frankness and open-heartedness excited our sympathy’, wrote Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva on first meeting Maliavin in 1892, and it is this impulsive and individual approach that makes this superb collection of graphic works so appealing. Characterised by extreme lightness and a delicacy of touch, his works on paper are elegant and detailed, flaring with colour but equally unafraid of incorporating blank areas of the sheet; the intensity of the effect recalls the techniques of Egon Schiele, and as Alexander Benois remarked makes for ‘a Bacchic feast of colour’. Maliavin famously worked very fast and tended to use a long pencil lead sharpened along a wide edge to make it equally suitable for tracing wide and fine lines, making increasing use of crayons and watercolours from the 1910s onwards.

The present collection includes society portraits as well as his nostalgic depictions of the Russian countryside and its people, which became the dominant theme of his work. As the contemporary critic Sergei Makovsky noted, Maliavin viewed Russian peasantry not as a ‘poor suffering class bereft of the advantages of civilisation, but as a great elemental force, mysteriously invested with the spiritual wealth of centuries’.

Of humble origins, Maliavin studied icon painting on Mount Athos before he was sponsored to enrol at the Academy of Arts. His work was soon acquired by Pavel Tretyakov and he went on to win a gold medal at the Paris World Fair, purchase an estate in Riazan and achieve the title of Academician. Post-emigration he held exhibitions throughout Europe, in Paris in 1924, and in Belgrade, Prague, London and Stockholm between 1933 and 1935. 

Including a portrait of Prince Paul of Yugoslavia with his wife, Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark.