VASILY YAKOVLEV, (RUSSIAN 1893-1953)
Nude,
oil on board
33 x 42.7 cm (13 x 16 13/16 in.)

EXPERTISE
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Anna Kiseleva and Yulia Rybakova of the All-Russia Art Scientific and Restoration Center named after Academician I.E. Grabar. (Available upon request).

Perhaps inspired by Francois Boucher's L'Odalisque Brune, which was painted by the French artist two centuries earlier, Vasily Yakovlev's Nude holds both similarities and differences. In contrast to L'Odalisque, Vasily Yakovlev uses warm, rustic tones of ochre and amber rather than the cold blues of Boucher's work. The Nude is easily identifiable as a piece by Yakovlev; the similarities between this painting and works he created ca. 1930 such as Bacchanal and Bacchanalia are unmistakable. The three painttings each boast a his characteristically exaggerated nude forms and fantastically erotic motifs. Thus, even without the artist's signature, the uncanny resemblance between his oeuvre's number of creations accredits this oil on board masterpiece. This exciting illustration of the bare female figure, along with the paintings Bacchanal and Bacchanalia, likely mark the end of this style and genre for the artist. Approximately a decade later, Yakovlev began circulating his artistic output around more sober subjects, such as his Portrait of Marshal Zhukov (1944) and Still life with pupmkin (1949) created towards the end of his career.