
Daria Khristova nee Chernenko
Department Director
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Sold for £62,500 inc. premium
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Department Director
PROVENANCE
Modern Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 18 December 1981, lot 38
Montgomery Gallery, San Francisco (according to label on verso of frame)
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1996
A Russian-born artist, Gluckmann's career spanned the most significant events of the early twentieth century. After the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution, Gluckmann left Russia to work in Paris and following the Second World War, he permanently moved to California, where he continued to live and work for the next several decades. Although Gluckmann is a twentieth century artist, his work at times resembles the aesthetic of the old masters, and appeals to a variety of collectors worldwide.
Gluckmann's paintings of women have been compared to the work of Renoir. In the words of Octav Mirbeau, 'He is really the painter of woman, alternately graceful and exciting, knowing and demure, always elegant, with exquisite sensitivity of the eyes, caresses of the hand light as kisses, profound visions as were those of Stendhal.' Rich in monochromatic, opalescent tones, 'Four Women' is enigmatic and serene, the partially visible forms and averted faces of the women delicate and feminine. It encompasses the timeless grace and allure of the woman as subject, and is emblematic of this artist's particular talent for capturing these ephemeral and age old qualities.