Decorative Arts and International Art Auction

June 16, 2015

LOT 389

Lot 389

Alexis Gritchenko (Alexei Vasilyevich Grishchenko) (1883-1977)

Alexis Gritchenko (Alexei Vasilyevich Grishchenko) (1883-1977)
Lot 389 Details
Alexis Gritchenko (Alexei Vasilyevich Grishchenko) (1883-1977), Ukrainian

MAN SEATED BY THE SEA

Oil on panel; signed lower right
15.75" x 20" — 40 x 50.8 cm.

Estimate $8,000-$12,000

Realised: $6,600
Price Includes Buyer's Premium ?

Lot Report

Additional Images
Alexis Gritchenko (Alexei Vasilyevich Grishchenko) (1883-1977)
  • Alexis Gritchenko (Alexei Vasilyevich Grishchenko) (1883-1977)
Provenance:

Private Collection of Gloria Kupchenko Frolick and Stanley Frolick;
By descent to their daughter;
By descent to her son, Private Collection, Toronto

Note:

Alexis Gritchenko was a Ukrainian born painter, graphic artist and art historian who travelled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North America. He participated in exhibitions from 1909. Gritchenko's work can be found in various museums and private collections, more than three hundred of them in the United States and Canada. The Alexis Gritchenko Foundation was formed in New York in 1958 to preserve Gritchenko's artistic legacy.

A clashing of figuration and abstraction, this painting depicts the real world but the viewer is ever conscious of the paint and lines applied to the flat surface. Gritchenko has locked his image into a frenzied throng of shape and colour that paradoxically seems to heave and swell before becoming immutable. The curves and bends of the land in the foreground are echoed in the radiant sea. Scores of vertically stressed brushstrokes play off the clear horizontals of the thirdly divided image. In this energetic painting, readability evaporates in favour of an eruption of colour. One can sense the laborious effort the artist underwent to broker a resolution between the two-dimensional and tangible world.

CONDITION DETAILS

For condition information please contact the specialist.

LOT 389
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About Condition Ratings

  • 5 Stars: Excellent - No discernable damage, flaws or imperfections
  • 4 Stars: Very Good - Minor flaws or imperfections visible only under close inspection using specialised instruments or black light
  • 3 Stars: Good - Minor flaws visible upon inspection under standard lighting
  • 2 Stars: Fair - Exhibits flaws or damage that may draw the eye under standard lighting
  • 1 Star: Poor - Flaws or damage immediately apparent under standard lighting (examples: missing components, rips, broken glass, damaged surfaces, etc.)

Note: Condition ratings and condition details are the subjective opinions of our specialists and should be used as a guide only. Waddington’s uses due care when preparing condition details, however, our staff are not professional restorers or conservators. Condition details and reports are not warranties and each lot is sold “as is” in accordance with the buyer’s terms and conditions of sale. In all cases the prospective purchaser is responsible for inspecting the property themselves prior to placing a bid.