Alexander Evgenievich Yakovlev

A.Iacovleff and S.Eliseeff, Le théâtre japonais (Kabuki), Paris, Jules Meynial, 1933, illustrated plate XV

Sheet discoloured, with horizontal creases throughout and surface dirt. There is a tear approximately 10cm from the lower edge in the centre and a small area of paper loss at the left edge. There are pinholes in the corners, larger in the top left corner. There are creases throughout and a few pinholes elsewhere. Held in a simple frame behind plexiglass. Unexamined out of frame.
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Intrigued by the interplay between tradition and modernity in Japanese and Chinese theatre, Yakovlev executed numerous compositions on the subject of actors and theatrical performance during his early visits to Eastern Asia. He was particularly impressed by the unique synthesis of visual and dramatic arts found in Kabuki theatre, which must have offered a compelling contrast to the concurrent Ballets Russes. The heroic role of the samurai was central to numerous kabuki narratives and many of Yakovlev's renderings from this period demonstrate elements of the samurai code, for example avenging the death of a lord or committing ritual suicide. 

The artist's theatre-inspired oeuvre from China and Japan was compiled in two major albums, and these publications highlight Yakovlev's extraordinary draughtsmanship and provide some of the earliest examples of his sanguine travel sketches. It is thanks in part to the success of these series and the subsequently critically acclaimed exhibition of his drawings at the Galerie Charpentier in Paris in 1919 that Yakovlev was elected the official artist for the Citroën expeditions.

To be included in the forthcoming Alexander Yakovlev catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by Caroline Haardt de la Baume.