Борис Анисфельдcatalogue raisonnéBoris Anisfeld1878 - 1973landscapesymbolismmysticismmythologyreligiongenreportraitstill lifenudeSpanish Elegance Gouache over graphite on verso of artists' board, printed along right edge with board maker's logo; readable: NEW YORK- CHiCAGO-KANSAS CITY. 37,3 x 24,9 cm.(14.75 x 9.75 in.) signed at lower right: Bon's Anisfeld. verso, the prepared side of the board, sketches of female figures; label, inscribed: 517 (inventory list 1973). Northern Lake Watercolor on Manila artists' board 27,6 x 36,8 cm ( 10.8 x 14.5 in.) Signed at lower right: Boris Anisfeld On verso label, inscribed: 309 (inventory list 1973); inscribed in graphite in old hand: JO; three sketches: a composition sketch of recto, a house, and an unidentifiable composition . Note: In the inventory list of 1973 the present watercolor is titled Central City, Colorado, but it is more likely that it was executed in Minnesota, where Anisfeld had a forest cottage. Portrait of the Artist's Wife watercolor and pencil 31,7 x 24 cm (12.5 x 9.4 in.) signed in Latin: Boris Anisfeld (lower left) ca. 1904 – 1905 PROVENANCE Claude Aguttes, Paris, October 31, 2008 [Lot 34], estimate 20,000 - 25,000 Euro (27,166 - 33,958 US$), bought in Woman Facing Shrouded and Masked Figures Watcrcolor and ink on heavy weight wove paper, no watermark 33,6 x 49,5 cm (13.25 x 19.75 in.) On verso of former backing board label, inscribed in blue ink: 5)), inscribed on top of this number in purple marker: 480. circa 1905 Note: The present drawing was probably destined for one of the underground publications which flourished in Russia during the 1905 revolution. Anisfeld worked for Leshii (Wood Goblin), Satiricon, Zhupel (Bugbear) and other publications of the time. Reproductions of several works from this period in the archive of Shepherd Gallery show similar narrative subjects, drawn with an obsessive attention to minute details, not unlike the contemporaneous works by Aubrey Beardsley. We are grateful to Shepherd Galleries for having provided this information. The Sea tempera on paper 52,7 x 70,8 cm (20.7 x 27.9 in.) Signed (lower right) PROVENANCE Claude Aguttes, October 31, 2008 [Lot 33] estimate 20,000 - 25,000 Euro (27,166 - 33,958 US$), sold for 25,323 Euro (32,477 US$) Birds of Paradise (sketch for "The Garden of Hesperides") gouache and pastel on board 71 x 92 cm (28 x 36.2 in.) signed in Latin and dated 1916 (lower right) PROVENANCE Sotheby's London, June 10, 2008 [Lot 293] estimate 20,000 - 30,000 BP (39,572 - 59,358 US$), sold for 25,000 BP (48,971 US$) Exodus watercolor and gouache over pencil on paper 32 x 43,5 cm (12.6 x 17.1 in.) ca. 1917 PROVENANCE Sotheby's New York, October 7, 2008 [Lot 122] estimate 20,000 - 30,000 US$, bought in Pansies Watercolor and gouache on Beverly artists' board.36.9 x 27.7 cm (14.5 x 10.8.in.) Signed at upper right (inverted): Boris Anisfeld On verso inscribed in Cyrillic: twenty-two; label, inscribed: 316 (inventory list 1973); red-bordered label, inscribed: 7. Study of a Nude Woman (possibly a study for "Shulamite") India ink and white chalk on artists'board.25,5 x 38 cm ( 10 x 15 in.) On verso label, inscribed: 546 (inventory list 1973) Note: This figure, with her arms raised over her head, her voluptuous thighs, and her upper body turned towards the viewer seems to be related to various treatments of the story of the Shulamite woman, told in the Song of Solomon. A lithograph Shulamit [sic] of 1913 was exhibited in the Chicago Art Institute in 1958, along with a Shulamit of 1928. A tempera painting The Shulamite of 1918 was exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum exhibition. There also exists a small painting The Shulamite of 1920 (priv. coll. San Francisco), and a large painting, with the same title, of 1929 (priv. coll.). Presumably, the present study was executed early on in this long series of paintings and watercolors, devoted to the captivating story of the Shulamite woman. The Shulamite woman was black, beautiful, and the center of King Solomon's Song of Songs. Anisfeld represented her always as a shepherdess, according to her rural origins. Reference: The Art Institute of Chicago, Boris Anisfeld Retrospective Exhibition, Chicago, 1958, cat. no. 37 (lithograph), cat. no. 50 (painting). Brooklyn Museum, The Boris Anisfeld Exhibition (ed. by Christian Brinton), New York, 1918, cat. no. 92, ill. (tempera). We are grateful to Shepherd Galleries for having supplied above note. |