DAVID BURLIUK (1882-1967)

An esteemed photographer, Alfredo Valente (1899-1973) chronicled Broadway and remains best-known for his dramatic portraits of some the most famous ballet stars of the time, including Vera Zorina (1917-2003), Igor Youskevitch (1912-1994), Alicia Markova (1910-2004), André Eglevsky (1917-1977) and Hugh Laing (1911-1988). With close ties to the artistic community in New York, Valente naturally developed his interest in American painting, eventually accumulating a significant collection of artists including Raphael Soyer (1899-1987), Yasuo Kuniyoshi (1889-1953) and Ben Shahn (1898-1969) and opening his eponymous gallery at 119 W. 57th Street in Manhattan. The Alfredo Valente papers, 1941-1978, held at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, include a photographic portrait of David Burliuk taken by Valente and dated ca. 1950, suggesting that the two may have been acquainted when the present lot, dated 1951, was painted.