File:Harlequin (by Alexander Yakovlev).jpg

English: Alexander Evgenievich Yakovlev

Harlequin

signed in Latin, inscribed Paris and dated 1922 l.r.

sanguine and charcoal on paper laid on canvas

180 by 95cm, 70 3/4 by 37 1/2 in.

Provenance

Sotheby's London, The Russian Sale, 31 May 2006, lot 127

Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Note

Theatre was a major theme in Alexander Yakovlev’s work throughout his career. Arriving in Paris in 1919 after an extended stay in East Asia, he brought with him countless drawings and paintings inspired by Japanese Kabuki and Chinese theatre. Many of these were exhibited at his first show in France the following year. He published a volume on Chinese theatre in 1922, the same year he executed the present work. European theatrical traditions, particularly the Commedia dell'arte, also left their mark on Yakovlev’s work. While still a student at the Imperial Academy, he and his close friend Shukhaev painted themselves as Pierrot and Harlequin in their famous double self-portrait from 1914, now at the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg.