Russian Pictures
Russian Pictures
Property from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Sold to Benefit Future Acquisitions
Ilya Efimovich Repin
Study for The Duel
Auction Closed
November 30, 02:40 PM GMT
Estimate
10,000 - 20,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Sold to Benefit Future Acquisitions
Ilya Efimovich Repin
1844 - 1930
Study for The Duel
inscribed in Cyrillic with authentications by the artist's daughters Vera and Tatiana on the reverse, further inscribed in Finnish
oil on panel
Panel: 12 by 21.5cm, 4¾ by 8½in.
Framed: 26 by 35cm, 10¼ by 13¾in.
Acquired at the above sale by C. Michael Paul
A gift from the Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation, Inc., and the Charles Ulrick and Joseph Bay Foundation to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 1968
This study depicts an officer tending to the wounds of the unlucky combatant in a duel and relates to the two large-scale canvases titled The Duel that Repin painted in 1896-1897. The faint pencil inscription Duel/ 1896 in Cyrillic on the reverse attests to this. The first version was exhibited at the II International Exhibition in Venice where it was widely praised in the press and bought by a European collector, eventually making its way to America. The second version dating to 1897 was acquired by Pavel Tretyakov and hangs in the State Tretyakov Gallery today.
C. Michael Paul (1901-1980) was born Pavel Mikhailovich Iogolevitch in Imperial Russia where, after a brief career as a violinist, he joined the Russian army. He changed his name to Capton Michael Paul when he emigrated to the United States after World War I. After accumulating a large fortune in the petroleum business, he founded the C. Michael Paul Foundation and in 1965, he endowed the C. Michael Paul Hall at the Julliard School.