Lot 308: Georgii Sapozhnikov (active 1920s)

Georgii Sapozhnikov (active 1920s)
Fourteen illustrations for G. A. Dobkevich's poem Tennis (four illustrated); and An album of thirteen sketches and watercolours, seven depicting officers (two illustrated)
Tennis, nine signed 'Sapajou'; Album, one signed 'Sapajou', one signed in Cyrillic 'Sapa...'
Tennis, pencil and ink on paper laid down on card; Album, six pencil on paper, seven pencil and watercolour on paper, some loose leaves
Tennis 6½ x 10 3/8 in. (16.5 x 26.3 cm.); Album 7 x 10½ in. (17.8 x 26.7 cm.), sketches 10 1/8 x 6 1/8 in. (25.7 x 15.6 cm.) and smaller (2)

Camilla Benois, daughter of the artist.
By descent to the present owner.

Lots 309-312 come from the family of Evdokia 'Doushka' Williams (née Horvath, 1902-2005), the second daughter of General Dmitrii Horvath and his wife Camilla (née Benois). Camilla Benois was from a family of talented artists whose predecessors had been forced to immigrate to Russia after the French Revolution. Camilla's grandfather, Nicholas Benois (1813-1898), was an architect to Emperor Nicholas I, chairman of the Society of Architects and a member of the Russian Academy of Science. The train station at New Peterhof is considered to be his masterpiece. Of his three sons the youngest, Alexandre (1870-1960) was a celebrated theatre designer and founder of Mir Isskustva; Leon (1856-1928) was an architect like his father; and the eldest, Camilla's father Albert Benois (1852-1936), a talented watercolourist.

The present collection has remained in the artist's family. It includes an evocative group of scenes from Albert Benois' travels. The delicate colouring of the watercolours invokes the tranquility that the artist found on the coast, in the mountains and in parks and gardens.
Camilla and her husband, General Dmitrii Horvath (1858-1937), emigrated to North-Eastern Heilongjiang province, where the General was employed as Director of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. On hearing of the October Revolution, Horvath rebelled against Bolshevik Rule, declaring himself ruler of the 'Provisional Russian Republic' in Manchuria. However, his efforts to maintain order failed and he and his family were forced to escape to Peking in 1920.

The family became prominent members of the Shanghai community; a city of international significance, both culturally and politically. The city had a large population of Russian immigrants including the celebrated artist, cartoonist and social commentator Georgii 'Sapajou' Sapozhnikov. The Horvaths were close friends of the artist and, like many of the Russian inhabitants of Shanghai, featured in his drawings. The present collection also includes an album of Sapajou's sketches and his illustrations for 'Tennis', a humorous poem featuring the Horvaths.
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.