*SITNIKOV, VASILY (1915-1987) Russian Winter signed and dated '1973-XII-24, Monday' in Cyrillic on the reverse Oil on canvas, 63.5 by 78.5 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the wife of a Swedish diplomat. Acquired from the above by a Moscow collector. Vasily Sitnikov's painting Russian Winter presented here for auction belongs to a series of works spanning over many years. The artist's typical composition with the “greyish-blue Kudykinogorsk monastery” represents Sitnikov's artistic credo, and the ancient walls of the buildings themselves, typical for the towns of the Golden Ring, turn into a fairy-tale image of the Russian lands. In a letter to his brother, Sitnikov described the method used for his much beloved subject: “Paint simple, ancient Russian monasteries. But do not adhere strictly to a documentary accuracy. It is not necessary. Never make sketches and do not be afraid of mistakes — you won't foresee them anyway. This picture is being crafted mainly with a besom or brush for sweeping the floor, using a trough which contains water and a couple of bowls of dark bluish-black and white tempera with the paint in its most fluid state. You can take an extra, third bowl of raw umber and have a set of gouache poster colours ready to hand. To begin with, the canvas has to be prepared in such a way that it is dove-grey. Start by being brazen, irresponsible and boorish and you will soon get the flavour of it”. “Then when it is starting to dry, with hardly noticeable wet white paint you furiously paint on the “sky”, from the top down, until not even the last molecule of paint remains on the brush, going well below the assumed horizon. While the “sky” is drying you use the same wet besom and a tablespoon of black paint and, again allowing translucency and transparency, starting from the bottom and going up to the imagined horizon, also with furious speed, you paint in the great hill with fresh colour. And this is “Kudykin Hills”[…] “Finally, taking the largest brush, I used half dry and extremely transparent white paint to smear in, very roughly but barely noticable, the towers, walls and the gatehouse. An then, once the painting has dried, I used the corner of the brush to make everything brighter with white paint. The next time start with the corner tower. This is not some decoration for the Mosfilm studios.This was once a fortified structure. Inside there was bustle, cannons, gunfire and smoke. So, just there use a lump of rag to botch in what the eye can hardly make out. You have to take just a ghostly small amount of paint, and you must only try to make a hit once with the crumpled up rag. A splodge for the body of the tower will appear [...] meaning I have created a splodge for the nearer corner tower […] and then a rather shapelessly outlined space stretches away. Remember that brick walls are browner or are covered with dust. And this green glazed tiled roof is again an unformed blot. But again you have to touch in the walls unevenly, with interruptions, because they are old, in some places russet, in other places black and elsewhere again covered with microscopically small plants. In a second go, you give a slap with the rag after you have just slightly darkened the towers and walls on both sides with some barely noticeable umber along the rounded parts. Don't be afraid to stray over the outline of the towers, for when you apply the finishing touches everything will come right and it will disappear …” Despite this extreme and paradoxical approach to techniques, Sitnikov produced highly professional works in his own recognisable style. He would return to work on his canvases again and again, refusing for months to sell an “unfinished” work to clients who were queuing up to buy them. Though he was demanding of himself during the execution of his paintings, Sitnikov was rarely concerned with their subsequent fate. It is for this reason that a masterpiece of the quality, scale and condition of Russian Winter represents a very rare opportunity for collectors. In the history of Soviet post war “unofficial” art, with its tales of persecution and violence by the authorities, its avant-garde experimentation and its bright personalities and dramatic fates, there were only a few artists whose mere presence, lifestyle and personality were as significant to the culture of the underground as their works. One such personality, undoubtedly, was Vasily Sitnikov.