⊕ ALEXANDER DREVIN (1889-1938) Riders crossing a mountain stream oil on canvas 60 x 70 cm painted in 1930 PROVENANCE : Estate of the artist LITERATURE: Veronika Starodubova, 'Aleksander Drevin 1889-1938', Moscow 2005, no. 55, p. 229, full-page colour illustration p. 96. Certificate of authenticity by Ekaterina Drevina-Udaltsova, the artist's granddaughter, dated 14 May 1992. Horsemen crossing a mountain stream' is an excellent example of Alexander Drevin's work. The Latvian artist, who has been an integral part of the Moscow art scene for many years with his wife Nadeshda Udalzova, began painting at the age of 19. At the time, he had decided to enrol in a maritime school, but he suddenly felt the urge to become a painter: 'Among my friends, there was one who did a bit of painting. This new passion possessed me so much that I forgot about the maritime school and started sketching from life, without any instruction, because my friend was also a beginner and we didn't know any artists'. Drevin went to art school in Riga and, after moving to Moscow, began exhibiting at the Moscow Artists' Union. He then became a teacher at Vkhutemas, the Russian National School of Art and Technique, renowned as one of the leading institutions at the centre of the Russian avant-garde. After the closure of Vkhutemas, Drevin returned to painting from life, a discipline that had always fascinated him ever since studying from life had given him the desire to become a painter. During several komandirovki, state-funded study trips across the territory of the Soviet Union, Drevin studied very different and impressive landscapes. With Udalzova, he travelled to the Urals, the Altai, Kazakhstan and Armenia. In 1930, Drevin perfected his working method by making rapid, dynamic drawings on the spot, which he took back to the studio to incorporate into formal, painterly landscapes with abstract accents. In the studio, Drevin was able to eliminate all unnecessary detail and experiment with different approaches to composition, often producing numerous variations on the same theme in a series of paintings. In this way, Drevin was able to create paintings with an unexpected and inventive composition. He did not want to represent exactly what he saw: 'For me, what is decisive in art is not only what I see, but the emotional charge I draw from what I see [...] and indeed, what could be more important for an artist than to feel that he draws his strength from two great sources: the force of life and the forces of nature. 1922-1930 - during these eight years, I identified with nature to the limit of my personal capacity'. In 1930, the year of the creation of 'La traversée du torrent', the artist felt he had achieved a great transformation in his painting style. Studio painting had given rise to what he saw as a 'more intense style of painting', and he was satisfied that he had succeeded in creating a 'new reality'. Bibliography: all quotations come from an interview with Drevin published in the magazine Tvorchestvo (Creativity), no. 4 (1934). ⊕ This lot is under the temporary import regime and is subject to import tax (5.5%) (EU) and the customs agent's administrative fee. At the buyer's request, we are happy to provide a general condition report for the lot described above. However, as we are not professional conservators or restorers, we strongly advise prospective buyers to carry out their own inspection or consult a specialist or conservator of their choice for a full professional assessment. Descriptions of the condition of objects in the catalogue or in any correspondence are given for guidance only and should not be regarded as a substitute for a first-hand valuation. ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD 'AS IS' IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE PUBLISHED IN THE CATALOGUE