MIKHAIL CHEMIAKIN | Evening in St Petersburg / Portrait with Doll

signed in Latin and dated '1977' l.l.; further signed in Latin, dated '1977' and titled 'Peterburzhskiy vecher / Portret s kukloi' on the reverseoil on canvas Chemiakin was born in Moscow but spent his childhood in East Germany, moving back to the Soviet Union in 1957. Two years later he was expelled from the Repin School of Art in Leningrad for failing to adhere to the norms of Socialist Realism and for propagating a taste for Old Masters who were regarded as degenerate by the Soviet authorities. Chemiakin was routinely hounded by the KGB and subjected to forced psychiatric treatment. In 1971 he was ordered into exile for ideological subversion and settled in Paris which at the time boasted a sizeable community of young émigré artists from Leningrad. Chemiakin was free to hark back to the imagery of pre-Revolutionary Russia, executing a series of works on the theme of the carnival in Imperial St Petersburg. While in Paris he also published and edited the legendary Apollon-77, an almanac of Soviet unofficial art and poetry.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owners

Original canvas. There is a significant layer of surface dirt and the varnish has discolored. A few clean areas are visible i.e. to the lower left cheek of the central figure in blue. There are a few very minor flecks of paint loss and light surface scratches in places. UV light reveals one very minor spot of retouching above the red hand in the lower half, and another potential minor spot of retouching to the nose of the left-hand animal. Held in a simple gold-painted wooden frame. Unexamined out of frame.
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