Exhibited
Possibly, Paris, Galerie Barbazanges, Alexandre Iakovleff, dessins et peintures d'Asie , 18 April-1 May, 1920.
London, Grafton Galleries, Catalogue of paintings and drawings by Alexandre Iacovleff, Mary MacLeod, C.S. Meacham, E.L. Norris, S.P. Wood, T.P. Wood , 28 May-19 June, 1920, no. 104.
Paris, Galerie La Boëtie, Exposition des artistes russes à Paris en 1921 , 1921.
Brussels, Le Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles, Exposition d'Art Russe Ancien et Moderne , May-June 1928, no. 719.
Notes
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Alexandr Iakovlev (Alexandre Iacovleff) - painter, theater designer, and graphic artist - was truly a man of the world who reflected in his art the many experiences and impressions from his numerous travels. By 1918, when the current work was executed, he was already a well-known artistic personality in St. Petersburg after exhibiting with the famous Mir Iskusstva ( World of Art ) group and illustrating such well-known magazines as Apollon, Satirikon and Niva . As a pensioner of the St. Petersburg Academy of Art, the young artist spent 1914-1915 in Italy, Spain and Morocco, developing his personal style and taste for the unusual and exotic subject matters. The artist's passionate interest in the colorful native cultures of far-away lands was heightened by his next trip, this time to the Far East, which Iakovlev undertook in order to gather ethnographic materials in preparation for the interior decoration of the Kazan Railway Station in Moscow.
In 1918 he embarked on a long journey through China, Mongolia and Japan. The unforgettable experiences of that expedition left a profound and long-lasting effect on the artist. The remarkable journey became one of the many trips and expeditions to distant and exotic lands that Iakovlev initiated or participated in during the following years. However, none of the subsequent trips had a more significant impact on Iakovlev's artistic development than this first journey to China.
The brilliant colors and rich patterns of native costumes, coupled with the exotic and intriguing rituals and ceremonies of traditional cultures of the Far East became an endless source of inspiration for and the artist's oeuvre . Iakovlev even adopted a Chinese 'chop mark' phonetically representing his name 'Ya-Ko-Lo-Fu' as an alternative signature that later appeared in many of his works (fig. 1). Of all the fascinating and brilliant elements of the Eastern culture, none left a bigger impression on the artist than the ancient art of the Chinese theater. Aleksandr Iakovlev was mesmerized by its dramatic expression, its simplicity of form, its colorful and harmonious presentation. The artist noted that this unconventional and profoundly human artform helped to 'transport us back to the earliest times and see China as painted by Marco Polo, or as we divine her in the works of Confucius' (Chu-Chia Chien, The Chinese Theatre . London 1922, p. 6). So impressed was the artist with the highly stylized action on stage, with the movements, music and sounds of the theatrical production in Peking, that he recorded his impressions in a series of paintings later illustrated in two subsequent publications released in Paris in the 1920s. One of them offered a brief history of the Chinese theater and was illustrated by Aleksandr Iakovlev. It also included an introductory essay written by the artist in which he shared his impressions from his visit to the Chinese theater:
'The scarlet beams of the monumental porch, a sort of miniature triumphal arch, the gay and brilliant mosaic of the posters, the lanterns ornamented by letters with living forms, the crowd, the tumult of ceaseless coming and going, all form a varied symphony of sound and color. The sound of the tam-tam, the sound of hard wood beating the measure, guiding the orchestra and the movements of the actors, irritates the nerves and produces almost morbid sensations. At times the sharp voice of the little serpent skin violin or the shrill flute dominate all other noises. The rhythm of this strange orchestra produces a visual impression of measure similar to that created by music.
'Round about me are amber-colored heads whose tense expression reflects the action on the stage. I do not know what it is all about, nor do I know what the play signifies. I see the movement and colour. I feel their surprising and perfect connection with the precise and complicated rhythm of those instruments which exasperate me. But I know they are absolutely indispensable, that they are appropriate to the action. They can only be applied to this particular form of action. Without them this action would lack the basis which is essential in order to give life to its fantastic expression.
'But I hear another sound, expressive in its monotony, moving in its force and over shrill notes, perhaps even more artificial than any of the other instruments. It is the human voice. At first it sounds monstrous to the western ears. Yet it is strangely beautiful when once one accepts it as such. In the ensemble of action it acquires the value of a musical instrument. It weaves a cadenced ornament, sometimes following the measure of the orchestra and the varied forms of movement, sometimes in direct opposition to them' (Ibid, p. 6).
The unusual mysterious nature of the Chinese theater, its highly stylized presentation, unfamiliar sounds and exaggerated gestures of the actors captured the imagination of the artist who long before his trip to China was interested in the art of the theater. As a member of the Mir Iskusstva group, Iakovlev collaborated with other artists who were designing for the contemporary Russian theater and whose contributions became nothing short of a revolution in the art of theatrical design. Later, Aleksandr Iakovlev even worked for Sergei Diagilev's Ballets Russes in Paris. Yet, Iakovlev's fascination with the art of the stage was that of an artist recognizing the perfection of this timeless union of pictorial, plastic and musical elements, which were combined and brought together in the form of a theatrical production. Iakovlev believed that the ancient artform of the theater was the best representation of the quintessential character of the entire Chinese nation and was the heart and soul of its ancient and modern culture.
Nothing escaped the curious interest of the artist. Over and over he carefully recorded the colorful faces and striking poses of the Chinese actors, commenting with delight on the bright, intense colors of their stage makeup and mask-like appearances (fig. 2). Drawing similarities with the art of painting, a Chinese actor paints his face in order to create a different reality:
'They are intended to produce the completely conventional mask which supresses in the actor all personal elements... The agility of those yellow, emaciated fingers is marvelous. In one hand is a small mirror. The other holds, Chinese fashion, a paintbrush which moves over the face with rapidity and precision, laying out on the smooth and beardless surface colours separated one from the other with pure and primitive clearness. That is why the Chinese theatre - although actual masks are very rarely used - is the theatre of masks and of characters created and defined by ancient traditions. It is this which brings it so near the antique theatre, the mystery plays, the commedia del arte, so near to all forms of theatrical art which are not the expression of individual personality but the reflection of a race. It is art which thus serves to express the moral traits of a people' (Ibid, p. 7).
Music was seen by the artist as an inseparable part of the theatrical production, as music that 'does not merely accompany the actor, but regulates his walk, punctuates his speech and marks his very movements'; and, Iakovlev included the depiction of the Chinese musicians in the series of paintings illustrating the magical world of Chinese theater (fig. 3).
Loge de Théâtre à Pékin shows a group of men watching the performance on the stage in front of them. It depicts a spectacular array of characters following the unfolding drama with intensity that rivals the intensity of the actors playing their roles. The present work was selected by Iakovlev as one of the illustrations for the book dedicated to the history and tradition of Chinese theater which the artist published in 1922. The wonderful publication informed its readers that the traditional Chinese theaters could usually accommodate from 700-800 spectators. The central stage was surrounded by a series of galleries containing a number of boxes holding from 8-10 people each. These were the most prestigious and expensive seats in the house. Red and gold wooden columns and lattice balusters often hung with cloth banners decorated the galleries. We are told that the theater was not ruled by strict ceremony, and the audience was allowed to smoke, drink tea, eat cakes and fruit, and even partake in meals during the play (Ibid, p. 20). The presence of the audience in the theater was clearly an important element of the experience, and the artist had included the audience in two more paintings (fig. 4 and 5). Unusual angles allow us to see boxes filled with spectators in the background illustrating the drama on the stage.
With marvelous artistry Aleksandr Iakovlev was able to record the emotions and intensity of reactions exhibited by each character in the present painting. Mesmerized by what is happening before them, the men are leaning forward, strained and focused. Their facial expressions reflect sympathetic participation and attentive gaze; some, like the elderly man in the center of the painting, have a mask-like expression, making them look like the actors themselves in the centuries-old play of life. Chu-Chia-Chien, Iakovlev's co-author, wrote that the Chinese theater was expected 'to stimulate virtuous sentiments by picturing on stage great historic acts of bravery and patriotism.' In such reality, we are told, 'The good are ever recompensed, the wicked punished, the innocent vindicated and the guilty executed' (Ibid, p. 35). We are observing those for whom the drama on stage takes the form of the ever-consuming reality. We are left wondering about the subject and narrative of the play and the skillful art of the actors, and yet we experience the unseen play through the reflected emotions of the characters in the painting in front of us.
The saturated blue and olive green colors of the men's traditional robes and the intense cinnabar red colors of the ornamental borders and ceiling beams infuse the painting with spectacular intensity and richness. With a typical playful and symbolic gesture, the artist established his very personal connection to the depicted scene by incorporating his name in the inscription on the banner stretched across the painting. Translated from traditional Chinese, the inscription reads 'Iakovlev, Beijing. Painted by a Russian in China.'
The series of Chinese theater paintings were first shown in 1919 in Shanghai, China, and later in the spring of 1920, in Paris at the Barbazanges Gallery. Colorful and exotic images of the Orient painted by the talented Russian artist caused a sensation and were almost all entirely sold. In 1922 Lucien Vogel, a well known publisher in Paris, published a limited edition of the book entitled Les Dessins et Peintures d'Extreme-Orient with illustrations by Aleksandr Iakovlev. 150 issues of the album immediately became a bibliographical rarity and the artist decided to publish an additional book on the history of the Chinese theater, in which we find the present painting as one of the many illustrations.
The current work is one of the few paintings from the Chinese Theater series that is known to have survived and to have appeared on the art market in recent years. Its unusual subject matter, original composition, and intensely saturated color palette render it an exceptional example of Aleksandr Iakovlev's work.
