Lot 178: f - Pavel Dmitrievich Shmarov, 1874-1955 , Bather, 1928

signed in Latin t.r. and inscribed Paris oil on canvas

92 by 63cm., 36¼ by 25¾in.

Charpentier Gallery, Paris;
A.B.A. Gallery, New York 2003

Distinguished European collection;
A.B.A. Gallery, New York USA;
Palladian Collection

In 1894, Pavel Shmarov was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, where he became one of Ilya Repin?s favourite students. In 1897, Repin wrote : ?My workshop is full of pupils, but Pavel Shmarov stands out. Inside this simple and uneducated youth there is a great artist waiting to emerge. [?] His works are executed with such warmth, tenderness, attention to form and completeness!..? P. Buchkin, Shmarov`s classmate, likened his sketching to that of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Shmarov graduated with a gold medal and a scholarship that enabled him to travel and work in Europe. On his return, Shmarov took up residence in St Petersburg, accepting portrait commissions from the Imperial family and local nobility. He also specialised in battlefield scenes as well as large-format bathing scenes. In 1916, on the recommendation of Repin and Vladimir Makovsky, Shmarov was elected to Membership of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1924 he moved to Paris where he quickly gained a reputation as a skilled portraitist and landscape painter and by October 1928, had been honoured with a solo exhibition at the Galerie Charpentier. Thereafter, the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris purchased a group of Shmarov`s paintings from the group Bathing, an important series in his oeuvre to which the present lot belongs. He was exhibited widely during his lifetime not only in Paris but also in Brussels and Belgrade. His works are in the collections of the Tate Gallery in London, the State Tretyakov Gallery and State Russian Museum as well as in numerous museums in France and Holland.