Russian Pictures
Russian Pictures
Property from a Private Collection, United States
The Hunters
Les enchères pour ce lot sont terminées
June 8, 01:22 PM GMT
Estimation
180,000 - 250,000 GBP
Description du lot
Description
Property from a Private Collection, United States
Ivan Pavlovich Pokhitonov
1850 - 1923
The Hunters
signed in Latin and dated 1887 l.r.; further bearing a loan label from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on the frame
oil on panel
Panel: 16 by 35.5cm, 6 ½ by 14 in.
Framed: 26.5 by 46.5cm, 10 ½ by 18 ¼ in.
In the same family collection since 1969, the present hunting scene, a genre that Pokhitonov loved and excelled at, is one of the most accomplished to appear at auction in recent memory. Two hunters, accompanied by a young boy, search their surrounding terrain. Both men look inquisitively to where the boy points with his right arm. They both have their hunting guns at the ready.
The colour palette is marked by pale grays, greens, blues, and light terracottas, and the work is permeated with light and warmth. Here, Pokhitonov demonstrates his love for nature, meticulously rendering each detail. It brings together elements of the influences which formed his style, namely that of French nineteenth-century landscape artists and Russian landscape and genre painting. It draws heavily from the Barbizon school principles, which Pokhitonov became accustomed to upon befriending Barbizon artists Jules Dupré and Henri Harpignies.
In 1887, when this painting was executed, Pokhitonov was living in Biarritz in south-western France. Throughout the next few decades, until his death in 1923, he travelled around Europe and Russia, living and working predominately in France and Belgium.