Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin

In the same family since circa 1920

Moscow, XI vystavka kartin Soyuza russkikh khudozhnikov, 1913-1914

Katalog XI vystavki kartin Soyuza russkikh khudozhnikov, Moscow: Tipografia A.I. Mamontova, 1913

Structural Condition: the artist's paper has been lined onto canvas and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher. The canvas slightly undulates in places and there are very slight stretcher bar impressions corresponding to each of the four stretcher members. Paint Surface: the paint surface has an even varnish layer. There is a very fine historic split to the paper within the figures at the table. This is stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows just a few small retouchings on and close to the extreme edges of the composition and a few tiny spots corresponding to the historic split mentioned above. Summary: the work would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition.
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Korovin was interested in the effects of artificial light, and evening views form an important part of his oeuvre. His night views of Paris’ Grand Boulevards are well known, but even during his many stays in Crimea, which Korovin as well as other Russian artists loved for its southern light, he turned to this genre. A 1905 view of Yalta at night is now in the Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, and his Tatar Street in Yalta, Night (fig.1), painted only a few years before the present work, was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery directly from the 8^th Union of Russian Artists exhibition, an honour reserved for only the very best works.

The remnants of a Union of Russian Artists exhibition label (fig.2) suggest that the present lot was included in the 11^th exhibition of the group, which took place in 1913-1914. According to the catalogue of the Moscow leg of the exhibition, Korovin showed 19 paintings, a number of which bore titles that could refer to this work, such as Night, Evening, or Street in the South, Evening.

Not seen in public for a century, the appearance of House in Gurzuf with a Candlelit Interior at auction is a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a work from Korovin’s most coveted period, painted in his beloved Gurzuf which inspired so many of his best paintings.