From 24 October to 7 November auction house Bonhams holds in the Tretyakov Gallery pre-auction show of paintings VDPolenov "guilty of death" and "Who among you is without sin," which will be exhibited at the Russian auction November 30

BASIL POLENOV
guilty of death
Bonhams. 30.11.2011
Estimate: 600-800 thousand pounds
Source: bonhams.com

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BASIL POLENOV
Who among you is without sin? (Christ and Sinner)
Bonhams. 30.11.2011
Estimate: 1.2-1.8 million pounds
Source: bonhams.com

now in the Tretyakov Gallery (Lavrushinsky Lane, 10, hall № 38) pre-auction exhibition in the Russian auction house Bonhams auction will begin running two masterpieces of famous Russian artist Vasily Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (1844-1927) «guilty of death" (1906. Oil on canvas. 113 x 221) and "Who among you is without sin" (1908. Oil on canvas. 118 x 239). An exhibition of paintings will run until November 7, 2011. Both paintings are committed to performance include a reference to the works of masters of the 1900s. These works are a series of paintings "From the Life of Christ", consisting of sixty paintings and is the result of years of work and reflection on the Gospel stories of the painter.

Even in his youth under the influence of the grand paintings Alexander Ivanov «The Appearance of Christ to the people" (1837-1857. TG) in VDPolenov born dream to become a follower of the great artist and "a Christ, not only coming, but come into the world and made their way among the people».

Wanting "to seek out the historical truth", Polenov for "authenticity" of the situation in which there were events related to the life of Christ, made in 1881-1882's first trip to Egypt, Syria, Palestine, called in Greece. The artist has written numerous studies, he studied the terrain, the types of people, architectural structures.

In 1887 Polenov completed work on the painting "Christ and the Sinner" (RM). A broad resonance, mass reviews in the press and interested viewers have strengthened the artist in mind to continue working on the theme of the Gospel, and he conceived a series of paintings "From the Life of Christ." "To my great joy, - wrote Polenov - many have understood what I meant, and responded with compassion. It gives me more courage to speak, how have the strength ...»

Direct work on the series began in 1899 when Polenov made his second trip to the East to collect the material. He brought with him from travel as well as after the first trip, mostly landscape sketches, which were shown separately in the 1903 traveling exhibition and made a strong impression of "freshness" and "force in the paint».

One of the central works of the series "From the Life of Christ" was the picture of "Who among you is without sin" (1908) - Option canvas "Christ and the Sinner." Making the repetition, the artist is not simply reduced the size of the picture, but retaining the basic compositional structure, changed the structure of its individual parts and colors of cloth.

Painting "is guilty of death" is devoted to the dramatic events associated with Court of the Sanhedrin, which house the high priest Caiaphas gathered elders led them to find the accusations against Christ. This is perhaps the only picture of the series, in which there is no image of nature as such, but the window is visible moonlight, interrupted by the bright lights of chandeliers and hanging lamps. Using different sources of light emphasizes a sense of tension and drama.

Both paintings are part of the ambitious task set before him Polenov, - to present the historical character of the Gospel events, to give a "living image" Christ, "as it was in reality" show and "greatness of the man».

In 1908, work VDPolenov on the paintings of the Gospel Series, which he considered "the main difficulty his life "was over. The paintings were shown in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities. Trade shows were a great success. In the same year the artist, wanting more and more people got acquainted with a series of works "From the Life of Christ", an album with pictures of photoengraving, which was highly appreciated by Leo Tolstoy.

In 1924, the exhibition of Russian art in New York was represented by 12 paintings in this series, among them "Who is without sin among you" and "guilty of death." The exhibition of their acquired American industrialist, philanthropist and diplomat, the Russian art lover Charles R. Crane, who gave then the picture to one of North American universities, in whose collection they were stored until recently. Disappeared from view local researchers and collectors of almost 80 years, these masterpieces of Russian art ever considered lost to Russian culture.

feature of this display paintings VDPolenov in the Tretyakov Gallery is that the paintings will be exhibited alongside other works by the artist in his monograph in the permanent exhibition hall. This allows a more complete picture of the work the master.

Cloths Polenov become one of the major Russian trading lots Bonhams, which will be held on November 30 in London. Estimate of "Christ and the Sinner (Who among you is without sin?)" Is 1.2-1.8 million pounds sterling, and the picture "is guilty of death" - 600-800 thousand pounds.

Source: press release TG, bonhams.com