Mikhail Vasilievich Nesterov

Private Collection, France
Sotheby's London, Russian Art, Paintings, 27 November 2007, lot 172

The canvas has been lined. There is a layer of surface dirt and the paint surface is thin in places. There is minor craquelure throughout. The canvas is visible in several areas, in particular to the outlines of the face, scarf and tree. This is mostly the intent of the artist. There are frame abrasions along the edges of the canvas. Inspection under UV reveals small, but numerous areas of restoration throughout. Held in a simple wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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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."

This magnificent 1910 landscape bears comparison with his smaller work Winter in the Skete (fig.1). In both canvases a woman looks ahead, seemingly oblivious of the fairy-tale winter landscape, and the viewer’s eye is drawn to her richly decorated clothing. But although these were painted only five years apart, the differences are telling. Compare the contours of the fields, the shrubs in the foreground, smoke or clouds beyond, and his developed sense of composition and debt to Art Nouveau principles becomes apparent. In the 1910 work, the female figure and birch trees are embedded in the picture to create a powerful sense of design and setting rather than simply being observed elements in a decorative landscape.

Winter exemplifies Nesterov's ability to combine portraiture with landscape painting to great symbolic effect. He repeatedly compares Russia to a woman in his writings, and indeed the comparison was commonplace in contemporary public debate. In his letters Nesterov expresses often his love for the natural beauty of his homeland; ‘against its background one somehow clearer feels the meaning of 'the Russian soul'.