Alexei Alexeyevich HARLAMOFF (1840-1925) Moody... Lot 24

Alexei Alexeyevich HARLAMOFF (1840-1925) Moody girl Mixed media on canvas, signed lower left in Cyrillic and lower right in Latin letters Representing a young girl sulking lying on the lap of her older sister of her older sister, sitting near a table in an interior Circa 1900 Original frame On the frame is inscribed a dedication "from M. Wolff / good memory / Amsterdam June 05 / 1926 Holland" above a countersignature a countersignature A. Harlamoff H. 113 cm - W. 81 cm Frame: H. 118 cm - W. 90 cm Related work: Moody girl, oil on canvas, ca. 1900, 116.8 x 88.9 cm, sold at Christie's New York, 22 October 2008, lot 121, sold for $962,500. Bibliography concerning the final work: - Work listed and reproduced in: O. Sugrobova-Roth, E. Lingenauber, Alexei Harlamoff, Catalogue raisonné 1840-1925, 2007, n°197 plate 184 (as location unknown) for the final work - G. K. Burova, O. Galonova, V. Roumyantseva, Exhibitions of travelling artists Moscow, 1952, p. 365 - G. K. Burova, O. Galonova, V. Roumyantseva, Study of periodicals and printed texts on travelling artists' exhibitions, Moscow, 1959 - G. B. Romanov, Exhibitions of Travelling Artists 1871-1923, St. Petersburg, 2003, p. 3. Petersburg, 2003, pp. 289, 7-327 Provenance: - Mr. Wolff's collection (Amsterdam, Netherlands), ca. 1926 - Private collection in Paris Background: Alexei Harlamoff's talent in the portrait genre was praised as early as the 1860s by the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts when he was only 20 years old. His permanent settlement in Paris at the end of 1876 gave him access to the Salon where his particular virtuosity was honoured. The of children and more precisely young girls takes an exclusive place in the 1880s and will remain an inexhaustible inspiration for the painter throughout his career. for the painter throughout his career. This preparatory work for the final work exhibited in 1904-1905 at the Exhibition of Ambulant Art in Russia under no. 202, and sold at Christie's in 2008, bears witness to the Christie's in 2008, bears witness to the research undertaken by Harlamoff in the scope of gestures and looks. By deliberately placing these two works in these two works, Harlamoff has modified the attitude of the girl, from a dreamy and distracted look, the painter has chosen to put the girl and the viewer in direct tension through the and the spectator through a most mischievous look. This preparatory study is marked by a more complex psychology than the final work This preparatory study is imbued with a more complex psychology than the final work, while laying the foundations for the atmosphere, as theatrical as it is mysterious, that Harlamoff likes to depict in his paintings. Two worlds confront each other between these two works, in front of the innocence of the lightness of the thoughts comes the questioning through a look to which the viewer should bring an answer. It is on this last idea that Harlamoff realizes the definitive work, taking up again his and subtle brushstrokes, giving a divine impression of immediacy and vitality at every moment. Our work, hitherto unknown to the art market and reference works, sheds new light on Alexei Harlamoff's artistic research. Harlamoff's artistic research. It gives to see the sketch, this lightning speed of execution where it is possible to recognize all the genius of an artist. Expert : Maxime Charron +33 (0)6 50 00 65 51