OLGA KONSTANTINOVNA DEINEKO (RUSSIAN 1897-1970)
In Wartime, 1942
watercolor on paper
30.1 x 42.3 cm (11 7/8 x 16 5/8 in.)
signed, dated, and titled on verso

PROVENANCE
Collection of Viktor Kholodkov

LOT NOTES
Deineko was a well-known Ukrainian and Russian Soviet Avant-garde painter and graphic artist; poster and book designer. She was born in 1897 at Chernigov Region (Ukraine). Then lived in Petrograd and Moscow. In 1919-1923 worked as assistant professor in VKhUTEMAS. Deineko worked together with her husband Nikolay Troshin, the artist-in-chief of the magazine "USSR in Construction". Exhibited in 1934 (Moscow) with Gustav Klutsis; in 1937 (Moscow) with Ivan Kliun, Aristarkh Lentulov, Nadezhda Udaltsova, et al.

This lot comes from the collection of Viktor Kholodkov (1948-2015), who fulfilled his passion for books, avant-garde design and paper memorabilia by devoting his life to collecting and dealing of prominent works of Russian graphic art of the first half of the 20th century. The dedicated collector acquired a multitude of books and artworks throughout decades, meticulously labeling and archiving every single item. Many came directly from the most preeminent artists of the time, as well as from their families and estates. He also possessed a vast number of drawings from the famous collection of another avant-garde enthusiast, Nikolai Khardzhiev. After leaving the USSR in 1989 and settling in California, Viktor continued his work as a Soviet art dealer and critic, actively publishing various articles and contributing to several major Russian avant-garde exhibitions across the U.S., such as the 1991 Russia Under Fire in the 40s on the West Coast and the 1992 Guggenheim exhibition The Great Utopia: The Russian and Soviet Avant-Garde. Kholodkov also contributed to the archives of the biggest American institutions. His sophisticated selection of over 2000 Russian sheet music covers was acquired by The Library of Congress, and an extensive amount of material related to VKhUTEMAS is now at the J. Paul Getty Museum.