VASILY VLADIMIROV (1880–1931) Odalisque

watercolour, gouache and pencil on paper with a pencil study of a reclining female nude on the reverse. 46.5 × 61.5 cm Vasily Vasilievich Vladimirov (1880–1931) was a Russian painter and graphic artist associated with the early Russian Symbolist movement. A close friend of the writer Andrei Bely and a member of the Argonauts circle, he was actively involved in Moscow’s artistic and intellectual circles in the early twentieth century. Vladimirov studied painting and drawing under Nikolai Martynov and Vasily Meshkov in Moscow between 1900 and 1903, before continuing his education at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts (1904–1907) under Hugo von Habermann. A member of the Moscow Association of Artists from 1902 to 1919, he worked in painting, drawing, printmaking and book illustration. His early work reflected the influence of Mikhail Vrubel, Viktor Vasnetsov and other leading figures of Russian Symbolism. Vladimirov’s works are held in several important museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MART), Italy.