Estimated Price:

   $   

Realized Price:

   $   

What is this symbol? This symbol indicates that this auction hose has verified this price result.

Login or subscribe to view price data

RUSSIAN, 1869-1939
LOVERS

measurements
5 1/2 by 4 in.

alternate measurements
14 by 10 cm

signed in Cyrillic and dated 08 (lower right)

ink on paper

NOTE

Konstantin Andeevich Somov was part of a generation that considered itself part of a dying world. Somov was deeply influenced by European fin de siecle cynicism which he often presented in nostalgic, period vignettes. As Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar described Somov's curious oeuvre, "...even then, his work stood out from the conventional of his contemporaries with his "un-Russian" features. His works were more subtle, temperate, cerebral, and superior in draftsmanship to those of others. Not an all comparable to what was being done at the studio, were his drawings, for us seeming to be affected and simulated, clearly imitating and copying some original illustrations from foreign magazines, most of all from the English Studio." (Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, Moia Zhizn: Automonografiia Etiudy o Khudozhnikakh, Izd-vo Respublika, 2001, p.241).

Indeed, it can be said that Somov's stylistic choices were largely derived from strives made by the British movement called Decadence (1880-1900), where contemporary artists reacted against the high Victorian values through ridicule. The publication of the World of Art journal introduced the Russian public to the latest accomplishments in Western graphic arts of English, German, French and Belgian artists who were oriented on the modern ethics. As a prominent member of the World of Art group, Somov was largely responsible for the design of the collective's journal, as well as in the development of a new graphic style. The artist's recurring theme of sensuality is vastly explored in the 1907 Hans von Weber, Munich publication of Das Lesebuch der Marquise. The book was compiled of texts chosen by Franz von Blei from "gallant" literature of the eighteenth century and lasciviously illustrated by Konstantin Andreevich Somov. The artist made two versions of illustrations for the edition, anticipating censorship of the publishing house, which would later indeed print the restrained selection. In 1914, Somov began creating another series of drawings, now independently selecting his own anthology of frivolous fragments from works by Voltaire, Casanova and others. The process would take close to four years, before Grande Livre de la Marquise would be finally published in 1918 in St. Petersburg, with the publishing place falsely given as Venice. The edition included an additional exclusively erotic part of refined and supple imagery, of which the present work is an example.

Sergei Makovsky remarked, "Somov's eroticism is that of a past life, profoundly interpreted by the contemporary artist and perfected into a sensuality of unexpected naiveté and above all tempting suggestions." (Sergei Makovsky, Contemporary Russian Graphic Art, Petrograd, 1917, p.13). The present rendition of the Lovers is executed in the beloved style of the eighteenth century silhouette drawings, the exquisite draftsmanship is characteristic of Somov's linear graphics. Despite the daring frivolity of the subject matter, the erotic scene is intricately woven with wit and rare refinement. Where Somov's portrayl of male sexual domination can be interpreted as sensual, his English counterpart Aubrey Beardsley's creations are brutal scenes without a hint of sensuality. In Juvenal Scourging Woman (see fig.1), the legendary illustrator blurs gender lines and mocks male superiority. Indeed, the work can be perceived as a criticism of Victorian vices and the dangers involved inherent in the objectification of women, offering an alternative vision to the patriarchy and hypocrisy of the then modern-day society. Somov was very familiar with the work of his contemporaries through publications and frequent travels abroad. In 1916, Russian poet Mikhail Kuzmin remarked: "Restlessness, irony, theatrics of the world, the comedy of eroticism, variegation of masquerade freaks, devious candle light, fireworks and rainbows -- suddenly morbid depths of death, sorcery -- skull, hidden under the cloth and flowers, the mechanical love stances, deadliness and terror of cordial smiles -- this is the spirit of a whole range of Somov's creations. Oh, how dour is this gallant Somov! What a dire mirror he offers to the delighted feast! -- Comme il est lourd tout cet amour leger. (How arduous you are, uncomplicated love!) (as quoted in Urii Bezelianskii's Ulybka Dzhokondy : Kniga o Khudozhnikakh, Moscow : OAO Izd-vo "Raduga", 1999, p.282).