Lot 265: David Shterenberg (1881-1948)

David Shterenberg (1881-1948)
Portrait of the Artist's Wife
signed 'D Sterenberg' (lower left)
oil on canvas
31½ x 45½ in. (80 x 115.5 cm.)
Painted circa 1912

Paris, Salon de la Société des Beaux-Arts, 14 April - 30 June 1912, no. 1192 as 'Portrait de Mme S.'
Possibly, Kiev, David Shterenberg. Paintings, 1914.
Kiev, National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kulture-lige. Artistic Avant-garde of the 1910s and the 1920s, 2007, no. 171.

Exhibition catalogue, Société Nationale des Beaux-arts. Catalogue illustré du Salon de 1912, Paris, 1912.
Evgenia Alferova, David Shterenberg. Symbol & metaphor in the Artist's work. An interpretative experiment, Moscow, 2005, p. 27.
H. Kazovsky ed. Kultur-lige. Artistic avant-garde of 1910s and the 1920s, Kiev, 2007, p. 186, illustrated, p. 213.

From the artist to Anton Sobkevich collection, Kiev.
Acquired from the Sobkevich family by the present owner.

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium
David Petrovich Shterenberg (1881-1948) was one of the leaders of the Russian Avant-garde, a legendary Head of IZO Narkompros and a representative of the Society of easel-painters (OST).

Like many artists of the Paris school, Baranoff-Rossiné, Chagall and Soutine, Shterenberg grew up in the 'Pale of Settlement', where he mastered the new profession of photography. In the early 20th century he moved to Odessa, the capital of south Russia, famous for its liberal outlook and open attitude towards Avant-garde tendencies in art, but it was in Paris, the world's art capital that his talent blossomed. Shterenberg established himself in the legendary La Ruche, an artist's commune in Montparnasse which formed all the fundamental artistic trends of the 20th century. The artist's wife modelled for him frequently. A whole series of portraits of Nadezhda Shterenberg have been preserved, both photographic (fig. 1) and painted. Portrait of the Artist's Wife (1912) is part of this series, using the characteristic windows of La Ruche's façade as a background.

In his autobiography the artist wrote: 'In 1912 I submitted my Portrait of N. D. Shterenberg to the jury of the French Spring Exhibition Salon. It was accepted and given favourable reviews'. This portrait, well-known from written sources and the society of Fine Arts Salon catalogue, has been preserved since 1934 by Kiev collector Anton Sobkevich. He has also kept a whole series of pre-war photographs (fig. 2).

Portrait of the Artist's Wife is a wonderful example of Shterenberg's early experiments with Post-impressionist and Fauvist painting. From 1907 to 1912 Shterenberg studied with van Dongen at the Academy Vitti and one can see the Fauvist use of spatial forms in this work. The delicate colouring and almost photographic likeness are the artist's tribute to Russian Realism and his teachers in Odessa. This is one of the most lyrical, tender works of the Russian Avant-garde.