Alexander Evgenievich Yakovlev

Grand Central Art Galleries, New York
Gallery R.C. Vose, Boston
Tretyakov Art Gallery, New York

New York, Grand Central Art Galleries, Memorial Exhibition of the work of Alexandre Iacovleff, 11-29 April 1939, no.100
Boston, Gallery R.C. Vose, Paintings and drawings by the late Alexandre Iacovleff just received from his Paris estate, 5-24 January 1948, no.24
New York, Tretyakov Art Gallery, Memorial Exhibition of the work of Alexandre Iacovleff, April 1959, no. 9

Exhibition catalogue Memorial Exhibition of the work of Alexandre Iacovleff, New York, 1939, p.24, no.100 listed as L’Escalier, Capri, No.3
Exhibition catalogue, Paintings and drawings by the late Alexandre Iacovleff just received from his Paris estate, Boston, 1948, no.24 listed as Stairway, Capri
Exhibition catalogue Memorial Exhibition of the work of Alexandre Iacovleff, New York, 1959, no. 9 listed as L’Escalier (Capri)

Original canvas with sketch of a map on verso. There is minor paint loss around the edges and in each corner, along with scattered paint loss to the surface. Under UV no pigment appears to fluoresce. Held in a wood frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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Painted in the late 1920s or early 1930s, L’Escalier, Capri, No.3 was first exhibited in 1939 at the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York and is listed in the exhibition catalogue. The French title also figures on the Vose Gallery exhibition label on the reverse, while in the catalogue of this 1948 exhibition the work is listed under the English title Stairway, Capri. The 1939 show in New York included three other works with similar titles, L’Escalier, Capri, No.1, L’Escalier, Capri, Nuit and L’Escalier, Capri, No.2, all of which bear the artist’s Chinese stamp instead of a signature in the lower right corner. It is possible that the works were stamped by the artist’s heirs after his death.

The titles suggest that all of these paintings are associated with stairways in Capri. A favourite visual image of Yakovlev's, stairs were a tribute to the Old Masters, as well as a considered compositional device for his own artistic intention. In the present work, Yakovlev succeeds in conveying the atmosphere of a sunny day in a Mediterranean town by using a diagonal composition which incorporates broad stone steps turning into a narrow staircase surrounded by a thin iron railing at the entrance to a home. The artist portrays the simple architectural features and the everyday, slow-paced life of ordinary people. The staircase allows him to depict on a relatively small canvas fourteen figures from different angles, each with their own character and manner. The familiar figures of women with baskets of fruit on their heads appear in other works by the artist from the late 1920s and 1930s. The small dog in the lower right corner brings the picture to life and reinforces the diagonal composition.

We would like to thank Dr Elena Yakovleva, art historian, for providing this catalogue note.