Live Auction 1161Important Russian Art
Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Lot 53

Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)

Portrait of Sergei Troinitsky (1882-1946); and Portrait of Konstantin Somov (1869-1939) in Brittany visiting the Benois family

Closed25 November 2013

Price Realised

GBP 25,000

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Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
Portrait of Sergei Troinitsky (1882-1946); and Portrait of Konstantin Somov (1869-1939) in Brittany visiting the Benois family
the first signed inscribed in Russian and dated 'S. N. Troinitskii/on a train/on his way from/Gatchina/VIII. 1919' (upper right), later signed, inscribed and dated 'Alexandre Benois/Mon cher ami/Le Directeur/musée de l'Ermitage/Serge Troïnitsky/IV. 45' (on the reverse): the second dated '9/VII 1905' (lower right); with signed authentication dated 1971 by Anne Benois-Tcherkessoff (on a label on the reverse)
the first pencil and sanguine on paper; the second pencil and watercolour on paper
the first 8½ x 6¾ in. (21.5 x 17 cm.); the second 8.7/8 x 7 in. (22.5 x 17.5 cm.)
The second with a study of a pillar on the reverse

Acquired from Anne Benois-Tcherkessoff (1895-1984), daughter of the artist, by Alexandre Djanchieff in Paris in the 1960s.
By descent to the present owner.

Specialist note

Of noble descent, Sergei Troinitsky graduated from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in 1904 before assuming a position at the State Hermitage Museum in the spring of 1908. After a successful decade as lead curator of the jewellery, porcelain and silver department, Troinitsky was appointed director of the museum. His interest in culture and particular focus on heraldry saw him found 'Gerboved' magazine and co-found 'Starye gody'. In 1935, he was arrested and exiled to Ufa for three years; on his return to Moscow he joined the Kuskovo State Museum of Porcelain and Faience.