Aphrodite - sculpture in Versailles Park. Gouache, watercolor on paper. Signed and dated on the reverse 25.03.936.15 x 10" Provenance: Russian Works of Art, Parke-Bernet Galleries, NY 1’05’1969 lot 283
A Tapestry for "Diane Poitiers", 1934. Gouache on paper. 13x10" Signed, dated and inscribed on the reverse "pour Ida" . Provenance: By descent from the artist, Sotheby's Icons, Russian Pictures and Works of Art. London, 15.06.1995, lot 121.
The Bath of the Marquise, Peinture a l’essence on prepared canvas, 11x7 inches (27x18 cm). Provenance: collection of professor A. Abramian (Erevan). Executed circa 1906 this freely painted composition is a study for one of Benois early masterpieces The Bath of the Marquise in the Tretyakov Gallery Moscow (see: I. Rostovtseva, The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad 1975, pl.49) Bibliography: COLLECTION OF PROFESSOR ABRAMIAN, Erevan, Sovetakan Groh, 1989, item#27, p286; illustrated in Русское Искусство magazine Moscow, 2015 v4 p 82. . In original Italian XVIII century hand carved and guild tabernacle frame with two putties underneath the gothic style frieze with rosettes. Значимость нашей работы помимо ее высоких художественных достоинств состоит ещё и в использовании художником весьма редкой техники - Peinture a L’Essence. Приписываемая Эдгару Дега эта техника предполагает первоначальное высушивание масляных красок на картоне или бумажном полотенце (процесс "демасленизации") с последующим их разжижением в быстро испаряющемся растворителе и почти мгновенным нанесением на холст. В результате быстрого высыхания краски создается необычная матовая поверхность напоминающая пастель или гуашь, но обладающая при этом весьма необычным декоративным эффектом
Village scene, oil/board, signed with Cyrillic initials and inscribed "Rome", 16x8 inches
Design for Nijinsky in Pavillon d’Armide, Pen and ink on tracing paper Signed low left "Alexandre Benois" and inscribed "M. W. Nijisky" up right; 30 x 25cm approx
Provenance: The Atelier of Alexandre Benois, Paris; Nicolas Benois, Milan; Julian Barran Gallery London
TWO BOOKPLATES
View of the park fountain (either in one of Saint-Petersburg Country Palaces – most probable as it is signed with Russian initials – or in Versailles); watercolor and gouache on paper, laid on cardboard, signed low right with Cyrillic initials, 30x30 inches. . Provenance: Christies, South Kensington, sale 14. 03.2007, lot 227.
Landscape. Gouache, watercolor on paper. Inscribed “Cavos s/m”, signed "Alexander Benois” and dated 13.05.40(?).13x 16".
Interior of A. Benois apartment in St. Petersburg. Gouache on paper, signed lower left Executed circa 1895. 11 x 12". Exhibited: An Exhibition of Designs for the Russian Ballet. 28.11.-22.12.1994. London (illustrated no.1). Provenance: Barran Julian Ltd. An Exhibition of Designs for the Russian Ballet. 28.11.-22.12.1994. London (illustrated no.1).
The Imperial Theater under Floodwater in St. Petersburg: an illustration for Pushkin's Poem "the Bronze Horseman". [1903].Gouache on paper, signed lower left 10 x13". Bibliography: “A Time to Gather… RUSSIANART From Foreign Private collections”, State Russian Museum, Saint-Petersburg, Palace Editions,2008, illustrated on p.25. Provenance: M. Dobujinsky, who received it as a gift from the artist; Sotheby’s, London, 16.06.94, lot 1. First published in vol XI “Mir Iskusstva, 1904, then in A. Pushkin "Mednyi Vsadnik" with illustrations by A. Benois, SPB, 1905 – listed in “ BENOIS Alexander”, text by S. Ernst. Petersburg, Komitet Populiarizatsii hudojestvennyh izdanij, pp 78
Igrushki [Toys]. A collection of 10 postcards of Russian folk toys, issued to benefit the St. Evgenya Red Cross Society and lithographed in color by N. Kadushin, St. Petersburg, 1905. Each 140 x 95 mm. Condition: unused postcards with minor wear and soiling. Among his many other interests, Benois was a passionate collector of hand-made folk toys. He began buying them in the 1890s and soon became one of the leading experts in the field. Bakst studied Benois toys when he was working on his costume designs for the 1903 ballet Feya kukol [The Doll Fairy]. Benois encouraged Georgii Narbut to collect them too; and Benois’ collection inspired Narbut’s two picture books called Igrushki (1910). The first volume was appropriately dedicated to Benois. (10).
