ARTHUR FONVISIN (1883-1973) Theatrical Sketch

dedicated in pencil in Cyrillic ‘Milomu Igoru Sergeevitchu – risunok Fonvisina perioda Goluboy Rozy/ N. Khardzhiev/ 8 VII 1976’, ownership stamp of Igor Dichenko collection (on the reverse) ink and pencil on paper 11 x 17 cm Executed during the Blue Rose period, circa 1906–1908 PROVENANCE: Collection of Nikolai Ivanovich Khardzhiev (1903 - 1996), Soviet and Ukrainian writer and collector of the Russian avant-garde. Collection of Igor Dichenko (Ihor Dychenko) (1946-2015), Soviet and Ukrainian collector, art historian, and painter; one of the ideologists of the Ukrainian avant-garde, Kyiv. Private collection, Europe Arthur Fonvizin was a Russian-Soviet painter and watercolourist, known for his expressive and vibrantly coloured portraits, theatrical and circus scenes, landscapes and still lifes. He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and participated in major Russian avant-garde groups and exhibitions, including the Blue Rose, Union of Youth and Jack of Diamonds. His distinctive watercolour technique combines elements of Symbolism and Expressionism.