Petr Petrovich Vereshchagin

Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 23 November 2000, lot 13

Possibly St Petersburg, The Imperial Academy of Arts, 1874, no.16
Leningrad, The Academy of Arts of the USSR, Vystavka kartin russkikh khudozhnikov vtoroi poloviny XIX veka iz chastnykh sobranii Leningrada, 1951

Possibly F.Bulgakov, Nashi Khudozhniki, St Petersburg, vol.1, 1890 (reprinted 2002), p.87 listed under works from 1874
Exhibition catalogue Vystavka kartin russkikh khudozhnikov vtoroi poloviny XIX veka iz chastnykh sobranii Leningrada, Leningrad, 1951, p.6 listed

Structural Condition The canvas is lined and is securely attached to a newly made keyed wooden stretcher. This is providing an even and stable structural support. Paint Surface The paint surface has an even varnish layer. There are some very fine lines of shrinkage in the upper part of the sky. These appear stable at present and are not visually distracting. There is also very slight thinness to the paint surface within the sky. There is an old loss in the upper left of the sky and a very small loss in the extreme lower right corner. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows several scattered areas of retouching within the sky and along the upper edge, retouchings along the left edge and just in from the centre of the left edge, small spots and lines within the buildings in the lower right, retouchings along the centre and lower part of the right edge, some retouchings along the lower edge and a retouching below the two figures in the lower left of the foreground. There are other scattered retouchings. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition and would benefit from the infilling and retouching of any paint losses.
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Vereshchagin first visited Georgia in 1863 at the invitation of his tutor Lagorio, who arranged for him to teach drawing classes at local art schools. Vereshchagin drew extensively from life, and was particularly interested in the distinctive architecture and the cosmopolitan population of Tiflis. The present lot dates from Vereshchagin's second trip to the Caucasus which took place in the winter of 1873-1874. The artist captured these same elements in this depiction of the Tatar market and the bustle of the streets around it – the flat roofs and Italianate balconies on the square, the domes of the Shia Mosque and the Armenian church of the Red Gospel in the background, and the tinkers and merchants with their resting camels in the foreground. The outstanding quality of this work makes it highly likely it was among the four views of Tiflis by Vereshchagin included in the Imperial Academy of Arts exhibition in 1874. Indeed, the exhibition guide lists under number 16 a painting titled Square in Tiflis, which may well refer to the present lot.