ATTRIBUTED TO VLADIMIR LUKICH BOROVIKOVSKY (RUSSIAN 1757-1825)

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MARCH FINE ART AND ANTIQUE AUCTION

By Shapiro Auctions

Mar 18, 2017 - Mar 19, 2017

Set Reminder 2017-03-18 10:00:00 2017-03-19 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : MARCH FINE ART AND ANTIQUE AUCTION https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/shapiro/march-fine-art-and-antique-auction-2181
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• Lot Description
  ATTRIBUTED TO VLADIMIR LUKICH BOROVIKOVSKY (RUSSIAN 1757-1825)
  Diana, based on the same composition of the goddess by Borovikovsky`s teacher, Johann Baptist Lampi,
  oil on canvas
  47.5 x 38 cm. (18 5/8 x 15 in.)
  
  LITERATURE
  The nearly identical version of the work by Johann Baptist Lampi is illustrated in "Un ritrattista nell`Europa dell corti" by Fernando Mazzocca, Roberto Pancheri and Alessandro Casagrande, Giovanni Battista Lampi 1751 – 1830, (Trento 2001), p. 232, n. 31
  
  Please see Lot Notes below
  
  LOT NOTES
  Vladimir Borovikovsky received his earliest art instruction from his father, a limner icon painter, before catching the eye of Empress Catherine II and being engaged by the Empress as a court painter and student under Johann Baptist Lampi. It appears that while Borovikovsky was still Lampi`s student that he painted the figure of Diana forming the present lot.
  
  Borovikovsky met the Empress while she was visiting the newly conquered Crimea and staying with Borovikovsky`s friend, Vasyl Kapnist, the Marshal of Nobility of the Kiev Gubernia. To please the Empress, Kapnist commissioned Borovikovsky to paint pair of allegorical works featuring the monarch for her chamber. The paintings had left a great impression on Catherine, and she requested that the artist move to St. Petersburg. Borovikovsky accepted the offer and after establishing himself in the capital in 1787, made the city his permanent residence. Although still a young man by modern standards, at thirty years old Borovikovsky was beyond the acceptable age range for formal academy training, and was set up to study privately under Johann Baptist Lampi in 1792, one of the most fashionable portrait painters of the day.
  
  Lampi had exerted an unquestionable influence over the development of Borovikovsky`s style, particularly noticeable in the young artist`s soft palette and compositional devices. It was common practice of the day for students to copy the works of their masters, and given the existence of a strikingly similar work to the present lot by Lampi (now in the Museo Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Italy) it appears likely that the work by Lampi served as a basis for this painting of Diana. The authors of the monograph Giovanni Battista Lampi 1751 - 1830 believe Lampi completed his painting of the goddess (pictured here in the ``additional images``) somewhere between 1789 and 1791, shortly before he took on Borovikovsky as a pupil, making this work a prime candidate for study and copying by the aspiring artist.
  
  Although the pose and subject of the two paintings is nearly identical, one cannot help but notice where Borovikovsky deviated from his master`s approach and imbued the subject with his own vision. Stronger, cleaner lines replace his master`s sfumato and cooler mother-of-pearl shade pastels replace the warmer hues. The beauty of the face and figure remain paramount, however, with the folds of the robes, the position of the hands, and other scenic devices primarily used to enhance the allure of the subject, as would become a hallmark of Borovikovsky`s oeuvre. Although unsigned, given the work`s close connection to the painting of Diana by Johann Baptist Lampi, created shortly before Borovikovsky was taken on as a student, and given the slight but notable variations between the two works clearly done by different masters, it is quite likely that the present lot is an early work by Vladimir Borovikovsky, while the artists was still on the cusp of greatness.
• Buyer's Premium

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    $0	28.00
    $1,000,000	23.00
    $4,500,000	16.90