Lot 240: OLGA FEDOROVNA AMOSOVA-BUNAK

OLGA FEDOROVNA AMOSOVA-BUNAK MARIKA WITH HER DOG AND CATS signed in Cyrillic l.r.; further signed and inscribed after a painting by Marevna / Marika, Dog and Cats / 1931 in Cyrillic on the reverse oil on canvas 57.8 by 78.3cm, 22 3/4 by 30 3/4 in.

The Collection of Maria Krymova
The Collection of Altai Mousaeff
Acquired from the above by the current owner

Olga Amosova-Bunak was born in 1888 near St. Petersburg and attended the Goldbladt art studio from 1903-1905. From 1911 to 1914 she lived in Rome and studied in the British Acadamy of Arts there. Upon her return from Italy, she showed her works in leading art exhibitions in Moscow and St.Petersburg alongside Nathan Altman, Vasili Shukhaev, Boris Grigoriev and David Burliuk.

The inscription on the reverse of the offered lot suggested that Amosova-Bunak based her painting on a work by Marevna from 1931. It is most likely that the two artists first met in Rome in 1911. The following year Marevna left for Paris and but the artist kept in touch even after Amosova-Bunak had moved back to Russia in 1914. This inscription is a testimony to the lasting friendship between two female Russian artists.