OLGA SACHAROFF (Tiflis, Georgia, 1889 - Barcelona,... Lot 12

OLGA SACHAROFF (Tiflis, Georgia, 1889 - Barcelona, 1967). "Flowers, 1957. Oil on panel. Signed in the lower left corner. Certified on the back by her husband Otto Lloyd in 1978. Measurements: 55 x 46 cm; 58 x 49 cm (frame). Olga Sacharoff's line takes on the delicacy of a fine tapestry. As a skilled seamstress she develops a filigree drawing, harmoniously combining flat and impressionistic colours, cold and warm, in balanced compositions. The white of the lace carpet is reflected in the bouquet, adding brightness, creating a welcoming and luminous atmosphere, the result of a careful study of nature, but distilling the forms to extract their essence. After studying at the Tiflis School of Fine Arts, Sacharoff moved to Munich in 1910, where he came into contact with German Expressionism. The following year he moved to Paris, where his work was initially influenced by Cézanne, later evolving towards synthetic Cubism. At the outbreak of the First World War Sacharoff moved to Spain, where he settled in 1915, first passing through Majorca and finally settling in Barcelona the following year. In fact, some historians point out that she was the introducer of Cubism in Barcelona. From there she collaborated in Francis Picabia's magazine "391", considered the mouthpiece of Dadaism and published in Barcelona. He exhibited works at the Salons d'Automne in Paris in 1920, 1921, 1922 and 1928, receiving considerable praise from the press and managing to organise a solo exhibition in 1929 at the Parisian gallery Bernheim Jeune, one of the most important of the time. During these years she held an exhibition at the Galerías Layetanas in Barcelona (1934) and took part in the Montjuic Salon, of which she was appointed a member in 1935. When the Civil War broke out, Sacharoff returned to Paris, and in 1939 she exhibited at the Perls Gallery in New York. After the war he returned to Barcelona, leaving behind the avant-garde to immerse himself in a naïve taste close to Catalan noucentisme. His style took on lyrical and amiable features, and he placed himself at the service of an idealised vision of Catalonia: landscapes, customs, popular types, etc. In general, compositions with multiple characters predominate at this time, depicted with schematic strokes and vivid colouring. Chosen by Camón Aznar, he took part in the I Salón de los Once de Eugenio D'Ors (1943), held at the Biosca Gallery in Madrid. Two years later he organised a retrospective of his work in Paris, and in 1960 the Directorate General of Fine Arts devoted an anthological exhibition to him. In 1964 he was awarded the Medal of the City of Barcelona. Sacharoff also illustrated books, examples of which include Colette's "The House of Claudine" (1944) and Dostoyevsky's "Netochka Nezvanova" (1949). Recently an anthology was dedicated to her in a duo with María Blanchard in Bilbao (Sala de Exposiciones BBK, 2002). Olga Sacharoff is represented at the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid, the Reina Sofía National Centre, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Casa Lis Art Nouveau and Art Deco Museum, the Marés Museum, the Pablo Gargallo Museum in Zaragoza and the Montserrat Monastery Museum, among many others.