Lot 19: Boyars on the Road

Ivan Silych Goriushkin-Sorokopudov (1873-1954) Boyars on the Road signed in Cyrillic 'Goriushkin-Sorokopudov' (lower left); on reverse: partial label for St. Louis exhibition and U.S. Customs label oil on canvas 51 x 28½ in. (53.3 x 21.6 cm.)

World's Fair, St Louis, 1904, No. 171.

Official Catalogue of Exhibits, Department of Art, Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904. no. 171, p. 283.

circa circa

By 1904, when the Russian Art Section was opened at the World's Fair exhibition in St. Louis, Goriushkin-Sorokopudov was already an established master of historical genre and landscape paintings. Initially trained under P. Vlasov in Astrakhan, in 1895 the artist entered Fine Art School at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg to study under the legendary Ilia Repin. In his four years there he worked side by side with F. Maliavin, B. Kustodiev, D. Kardovskii, I. Bilibin, I. Kulikov, N. Feshin. It is during this formative time at the Academy and under tutelage of Repin that the artist developed a strong interest in historical genre. His paintings from that period show images of old Russia and scenes from the times of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov that present romanticized version of Russian patriarchal society rooted in tradition. Bearded boyars in the traditional costumes, women dressed in colorful scarves and fur-trimmed coats populate market squares and town streets, monks in dark robes ring bells on bell towers and carry icons in the solemn religious processions. Walls of the medieval fortresses and golden domes of ancient churches provide a magnificent background for the pictorial narrative presented by the artist. Boyar s on the Road was painted shortly after Goriushkin-Sorokopudov graduated from the Academy of Arts and represents the young artist's fresh take on historical genre. The painting shows the arrival of the local nobility at the snow covered town square. Occasional spectators observe in amusement richly decorated sleighs carrying boyars, the noble class of the medieval Russia. Bell towers, churches and wooden houses are seen on the background and most likely were inspired by the vernacular architecture observed by the artist during his study trips to Uglich, Suzdal, Saratov, Astrakhan', and Khvalynsk, old Russian cities known for their splendid examples of traditional wooden architecture. We would like to thank Mr. Harvey L. Jones, Senior Curator of Art of the Oakland Museum of California, for his kind assistance in researching the provenance of this painting.