Lot 88: The first 'Ivan Seraí'; the second 'Minaret Uscoudar Valide'

Aleksei Vasil'evich Grischenko (1883-1977) The first 'Ivan Seraí'; the second 'Minaret Uscoudar Valide' the first signed indistinctly numbered and inscribed and dated 'Ivan Seraí' (lower left) and signed 'Gritchenko' (lower right); the second inscribed 'Minaret Uscoudar Valide' (lower left) and signed 'Gritchenko' and indisctinctly numbered (lower right); on reverse inscribed and dated 'Skytari 1920' (lower left) and 'Se Muraret' (lower right) pencil and watercolor on paper First 10. 1/4 x 12 in. (26 x 30.5 cm.); Second 13 x 8¼ in. (34.3 x 21 cm.) (2)

Alexis Grischenko was a Ukranian born artist whose travels brought him to Paris, Greece, Turkey, Russia, and the United States. These two works come from a series of watercolors he did during a trip to Constantinople in 1919-1920. His works are in many important collections including Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow and the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris. He has been compared to Van Gogh, Renoir and Matisse. In 2004, the Ukranian Institute of America in New York and the Alexis Grichenko Foundation held a commemorative exhibition before transferring his seventy works to Ukraine where the artist had intended for them to go. His wish was to relocate the collection after Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union. Please note these works are sold together with a selection of books and exhibition catalogues of the artist.