LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on canvas

Measurements:

31.30 in. (79.50 cm.) (height) by 23.54 in. (59.80 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed in Cyrillic, inscribed in Russian and dated 'This picture was painted in September-October 1975 influenced by the news that Vasily Sitnikov was moving to the West. At first the professor did not like the painting so he improved and repainted the following: the crow, the wires, the moon, the legs and the face of the self-portrait; after completing this he signed the painting/I came up with the title of the painting myself: 'Let Vasia go to the moon'/Petrov Vladimir/Nikolaevich/Gladkii'/Moscow/Vasily Iakovlevich/Sitnikov/Vienna, Rome, Paris' (on the reverse)

Literature:

K. Kuzminsky (ed.), Zhitie Vasil' Iaklicha Sitnikova, napisannoe i narisovannoe im samim [The life of Vasily Iaklich Sitnikov painted and written by himself], 2009, visible in a photograph p. [286].

Provenance:

Acquired by the present owner in Moscow in 1976.