Lot 284: View of Perm, Russia

Petr Petrovich Vereshchagin (1836-1886)
View of Perm, Russia
signed in Cyrillic 'P. Vereshchagin' (lower right), inscribed twice in Russian 'Perm' (lower left)
oil on canvas
16¾ x 36 3/8 in. (42.6 x 92.4 cm.)

Born in Perm, Petr Vereshchagin (1836-1886), the brother of Vasilii Petrovich, was already an established fresco painter before he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. He eventually became an Academician in 1873. Vereshchagin was particularly known for his skill at rendering perspective and, owing to his peregrination through Russia, his topographical views. From 1868 onwards, the work stemming from his visits to Moscow, St Petersburg, Finland, Crimea, the Caucasus, Kiev, Sebastopol and the Urals was frequently on show at Academicians' Exhibitions.

Situated on the banks of the Kama river at the foot of the Ural mountains, Perm was a major industrial centre in the 19th century with a population of over 20,000 inhabitants. In 1877 Vereshchagin travelled to the region and is known to have painted a number of topographical views of the neighbouring Chusovaia river in addition to a view of Perm (see F. I. Bulgakov, Nashi khudozhniki , St Petersburg, 1890, I, p. 87).