Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich

The family of the artist
Acquired by the present owner in the 1980s

Portrait of Yumorsky The edges are slightly uneven. The corners of the sheet have discoloured from old adhesive. There are pinholes in each corner and in the centre of the top and bottom edges. There is a faint horizontal crease through the middle of the composition. There is creasing to the middle of the bottom edge and along the lower right edge. There are spots of foxing in places and a small stain in the upper left. The sheet, which has discoloured slightly, is attached to the mount in two places along the top edge. Held in a black wooden frame behind glass. Unexamined out of frame. Portrait of Knorre and Kumeyko The edges are slightly uneven, particularly the right edge where there is some paper loss. There are pinholes in each corner of the sheet. There are three tears of various lengths running from the centre of the top edge. There are scattered spots of foxing. The sheet, which has discoloured slightly, is attached to the mount in two places along the top edge. Held in a black wooden frame behind glass. Unexamined out of frame. Acrobats There are pinholes in each corner and one in the top edge. The sheet has been folded back on itself along the bottom and right edges. There is a crease across the left corner and further light creasing throughout. There are minor stains in places. The sheet, which has discoloured slightly, is attached to the mount in two places along the top edge. Held in a black wooden frame behind glass. 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."

Sergei Yutkevich was a founding member of the Factory of Eccentricity (FEKS), a creative group that formed in Petrograd in the early 1920s. Closely related to Meyerhold and Mayakovsky’s theories of performance, the manifesto stressed ‘eccentricity’ as their stylistic mantra and theatricality which developed the actors’ physical abilities, including acrobatics, dancing and juggling. A number of Yutkevich’s works are in the collection of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. This exceptional group of works dating from the late 1910s and early 1920s represents a rare opportunity for collectors of this period.  

The present lot includes a design for his 1922 work, Fedor Knorre and Evgeny Kumeiko, Ekvilibristy-ektsentriki. The portrait of 'Pavel Yumorsky', presumably a stage-name, describes him as an 'Eccentric Humourist' for the Petrograd stage in the inscription on the reverse.