EVGENY KIBRIK (RUSSIAN 1906-1978) Portrait of Vera Ketlinskaya (the artist`s wife), 1920s oil on canvas 62 x 46.5 cm (24 3/8 x 18 3/4 in.)
PROVENANCE From the artist Lidia Frolova-Bagreeva (School of Filonov)
LOT NOTES Evgeny Kibrik was one of the inflential Soviet graphic artists of the beginning of the 20th Century. Originally studying at the Odessa Art Institute (1922-25), he would later study with Petrov-Vodkin at VkhuTEIN. Kibrik was an important disciple of Pavel Filonov and a member of the "Masters of Analytical Art " group from 1926-1930. His early works show a great deal of Filonov's influence, which can be seen here in the wonderful combination of realistic yet emotional portraiture, against an abstract Filonov-esque background. Kibrik was also one of the founders of the artist group IzoRAM. Unfortunately, he would go on to publicly critique his former teacher Filonov as the political demands of offical Socialist Realist took hold. His later work, for which he was highly lauded by the Soviet art establishment, was Socialist Realist in nature. The present lot, therefore, is an especially rare and powerful example of Kibrik's work as an exemplary artist of the Filonov school.