Nicolas KALMAKOFF (1873- 1955)
Fierce bird

Lot 114
10 00015 000
signed and dated ‘1922’ (lower right) watercolour, gouache, pencil on paper 60 x 50 cm Provenance: Private collection, USA (in the private family since 1960s) Born to a Russian general and an Ita- lian opera singer, Nicolas Kalmakoff was well known in St. Petersburg in the early 1900s, where he was admi- red by the artists associated with the magazine Mir Isskoustva. However, this early success would not last, and while he continued to paint, he stopped exhibiting his works after 1928. By 1955 he was living an impoverished, hermetic life in Paris, dying in obscurity in a hospice at the age of 82. Thereafter, his remaining paintings were forgotten, until they were dis- covered in a flea market by two friends, Bertrand Collin du Bocage and Georges Martin du Nord. Reco- gnising the talent in these works, the two collectors were intrigued by this unknown painter, and in 1964 they organised an exhibition of his work at Galerie Motte in Paris. The exhibition proved popular, and thus it was only posthumously that Kalmakoff gained fame. Throughout his career, Kalma- koff's paintings frequently combine the spiritual with the erotic. As a boy he had a German governess who told him many fairytales, and both these and her teachings about the diaboli- cal nature of the Devil made a lasting impression on Kalmakoff. As an adult, he was known to asso- ciate with mystical circles, particular- ly the Skoptzy sect to which Raspu- tin belonged. Kalmakoff also had a flair for the dramatic, as could also be seen in his work for the theatre, where he created extravagant decor and costumes for a number of Rus- sian stage productions, including for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.