Lot 45: Nikiforos Lytras , Greek 1832-1904 woman from psarra plucking a rooster watercolour and gouache on paper

signed lower left watercolour and gouache on paper

20 by 12.5cm., 8 by 5in.

Private Collection, Athens

As noted by Dr Nelly Missirli, `A large oil painting of this composition by Lytras was included in an exhibition of one hundred seventy paintings at the Mela mansion in support of the Red Cross in 1881. The painting was later sent to Egypt where it was destroyed; the present watercolour thus remains a testimony of the lost original oil. Later, Lytras painted another oil version of this subject but with differences, which he submitted to the Exhibition of the Literary Society, Parnassos in 1901 under the title Gift.

The present watercolour represents a village woman sitting on a bench plucking a rooster. She is dressed in everyday clothes of a brown palette, a white apron with grey undertones and a rusty red headscarf. Behind her in a wall niche stands a copper jug and on the cupboard hangs another, already plucked chicken. Beside her feet lies a basket where the feathers are discarded, which Lytras masterfully paints in a light form, just like in reality.'

This work will be included in the forthcoming monograph on Nikiforos Lytras currently in preparation by Dr Nelly Missirli.

We are grateful to Dr Nelly Missirli for providing the catalogue note and additional information for this lot.