Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov

Collection of Boris Wulffert Pokhitonov, France
Collection of Igor Markevitch
Thence by descent

Moscow, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Ivan Pavlovitch Pokhitonov 1850-1923, 1963

Exhibition catalogue, Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov 1850-1923, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 1963, p.19
V. A. Grebeniuk, Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov, Leningrad, 1973, p.64
Ivan Pokhitonov. The Artist Sorcerer, The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine, August 2012 (special edition), illustrated p.97

The panel appears sound. The paint surface is slightly dirty. There are abrasions to the right, left and top edges, with minor spots of paint loss to the middle left edge. UV light reveals an area of retouching to the upper left corner and infilling to the sky. Some pigments fluoresce under UV. Held in an original wooden frame with velvet. Unexamined out of frame.
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The present lot reflects the significant changes that Pokhitonov incorporated in his work after leaving Barbizon, such as the use of a wider colour palette and the increasing importance of light. The purity of the colours and the vibrant shades in use here attest also to the influence of the French Impressionists whose works he admired and with whom he came in contact through his dealer.

The recent discovery of a painting dated 1880 representing a location near Pau confirms Pokhitonov’s longstanding attachment to the South West of France. He returned on numerous occasions, notably in 1883 when he painted the courtyard of the Château de Pau (The State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg). From 1885 however, the artist would settle here for several months each year, roaming the countryside in his mobile workshop, a wagon well-equipped for this purpose. He painted dozens of works depicting his favourite subjects, scenes of hunting, fishing or life in the countryside, which he sent to his dealer Georges Petit in Paris, who found numerous American buyers for them.

This charming scene is thought to date to circa 1887 and takes place on the banks of the Gave de Pau river, near the hilltop village of Bizanos, 2 km from Pau. The Château de Franqueville is visible on the hilltop and the foothills of the Pyrenees can just be made out beyond.

We are grateful to Olivier Bertrand, author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Ivan Pokhitonov, for providing this note.