Lot 23*
Vasilii Dmitrievich Polenov
(Russian, 1844-1927)
'He is guilty of death', 1906
30 November 2011, 14:00 GMT
New Bond StreetSold for £2,841,250 inc. premium
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Vasilii Dmitrievich Polenov (Russian, 1844-1927)
'He is guilty of death', 1906
signed in Cyrillic and dated '6' for 1906 (lower right), stretcher inscribed with Cyrillic monogram 'VP' (four times), title, various numbers, with exhibition label inscribed in Cyrillic by Maria Vasilievna Polenova 'V.D.Polenov/Povinen smerti/Matvei XXVI 66/ N 8', additional label inscribed in English 'N 531/ He is guilty of death/by Vasili Polenov'
oil on canvas
113 x 220cm (44 1/2 x 86 5/8in).
signed in Cyrillic and dated '6' for 1906 (lower right), stretcher inscribed with Cyrillic monogram 'VP' (four times), title, various numbers, with exhibition label inscribed in Cyrillic by Maria Vasilievna Polenova 'V.D.Polenov/Povinen smerti/Matvei XXVI 66/ N 8', additional label inscribed in English 'N 531/ He is guilty of death/by Vasili Polenov'
oil on canvas
113 x 220cm (44 1/2 x 86 5/8in).
Footnotes
PROVENANCE:
Part of the series of paintings The Life of Christ completed by the artist in late 1890-1900s
Acquired by Charles R. Crane at the Russian Art Exhibition, New York, April 1924
Presented by the above to a North American Institution, 1 August 1924
EXHIBITED:
St. Petersburg, as part of the series The Life of Christ, 1908
Moscow, as part of the series The Life of Christ, 1909
Orel, Kharkov, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav and Kazan', as part of the 'Peredvizhniki' exhibition, 1909
Prague, as part of the series The Life of Christ, 1910
New York, Grand Central Palace, The Russian Art Exhibition, 1924, no.631
Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery, Bonhams Pre-sale Exhibition, 25 October-7 November, 2011
LITERATURE:
The album, Iz zhizni Khrista, 1908, illustrated
The album, V. Polenov, Iz Zhizni Khrista, Prague, 1912, illustrated
The Russian Art Exhibition, Grand Central Palace, New York, 1924, exhibition catalogue, section Vasili Polenov, number 631
Alison Hilton, The exhibition of Experiments in St. Petersburg and the Independent Sketch, in Art Bulletin, volume LXX, 1988, page 677-698
Art Bulletin, volume LXXI, number 4, page 695, illustrated
He that is without sin and He is guilty of death, an article on the two paintings by Polenov, Tretyakov Gallery Magazine, December-January 2011