The Manicure. Portrait of Mademoiselle Girmond

Nicolai Fechin was born in 1881 in Kazan, an important city with Russian and Tartar roots along the Volga river. Fechin's father was a woodcarver and gilder who had worked on Church interiors as well as other buildings in the region. This environment nurtured Fechin’s skills as a woodcarver and draughtsman and his unmistakable artistic talents were recognized from early on.
Eventually he was accepted to the Kazan Art School, which was established in part by Nikolai Belkovich (1866-1920), his future father-in-law. Fechin graduated in 1901 and was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he remained until 1908.
During this period he studied under the tutelage of Ilya Repin (1844-1930), a position that was much sought-after by art students. Here Fechin was introduced to the fundamental principles of the Peredvizhniki, the artistic group committed to depicting social realities that was championed by Repin. At the core of Repin's lessons were representations of themes from everyday life, a commitment to veracity and empathy. During this time art students were also deeply inspired by the paintings of Filipp Maliavin (1869-1940), who had also trained with Repin. Fechin would write in his autobiography, 'When I first began working in his studio it still was under the influence of the artist Maliavin. Every strong animal leaves behind him a stench, and so after Maliavin the air in our studio had not yet cleared and everyone’s head was so dizzy still from the broad Maliavin brushstroke' (quoted from G. Tuluzakova, Nicolai Fechin. The Art and the Life, p. 19). According to Fechin, the overwhelming influence of Maliavin's uniquely expressive brushwork annoyed Repin, who felt that his students' fervent embrace of the new blinded them to the technical foundations essential to their artistic development and maturity. Fechin was not immune from this influence, either. His works seem to have been solidly influenced by the realism of the Peredvizhniki, as well as by the generous, liberal and bright brushstrokes of Filipp Maliavin.
Fechin acknowledged the importance of his lessons with Repin, but he was aware of a categorical distinction that affirmed his individual talents. He wrote the following about this realisation; 'His encouragement did not lend me wings! I understood that the compositional type of work could not be expressed thoroughly without the full knowledge of the human face, and instead of following his advice, I began working exclusively on portraits. I could not be the direct follower of Repin, because my demands upon myself in art were entirely different' (Ibid, p. 25). According to Fechin, Repin advised him to focus on and develop large genre compositions. These large complex works, he felt, easily lost their central meaning, and therefore he preferred to concentrate on highly focused and expressive works: 'Personally, I strove always to express, during that particular period of my painting, the subject technically, basing my work upon the technical execution, as musician-virtuoso and not as musician composer. My attempts at big compositions proved to me the impossibility of sustaining the beauty of technical fulfilment' (Ibid, p. 25). Fechin's strong convictions combined with his adoption of a personal style did indeed lead to an impressive virtuosity that distinguished him from his contemporaries.
In 1908 Fechin returned to Kazan to work as a teacher and formed important contacts within the Kazan Art School that would support his career. One of his students, Nadezhda Sapozhnikova (1877-1942), who hailed from a prominent Kazan family, would become a close friend and patron. She acquired a significant number of works by Fechin, including several portraits, which she had commissioned.
In 1909 Fechin began to take part in international exhibitions and won a gold medal for painting at the International Exhibition of the Munich Secession. This was followed by numerous other exhibitions in Munich, Europe and the United States. His participation in American exhibitions included the prestigious Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, which led to a successful relationship with the influential American collector, William S. Stimmel (1864-1930), who would become one of Fechin's most dedicated patrons. Stimmel purchased more than ten paintings by the artist, and encouraged other individuals, notably his business partner, Jack Hunter, to acquire his works. Stimmel and Hunter were also instrumental in helping Nicolai Fechin and his family leave Russia during the years of revolutionary upheaval and settle in the United States, which launched new chapters in the life and work of the artist.
The 'Kazan years' leading up to Fechin's departure from Russia in 1923, represent the height of the artist's career. It was then that he firmly established his individuality as a painter, incorporating and synthesising various tendencies - Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism and the stylised techniques of Art Nouveau - in a unique and novel way. Among the works produced during this period are numerous portraits of his students, including his friend and patron Nadezhda Sapozhnikova - such as the impressive portrait executed in 1908 (sold Sotheby's, London, 28 November 2017 for £3,650,900) and, among others, two stunning portraits of another student, Natalia Podbelskaya (d. 1921) in 1912, Lady in Pink (Portrait of Natalia Podbelskaya), originally acquired by Stimmel and currently housed in the Frye Art Museum in Seattle; and Portrait of Mademoiselle Podbelskaya (sold Christie’s, London, November 2012 for £2,057,250).
During these years Fechin would produce a series of captivating and virtuosic portraits that would become the defining characteristic of his oeuvre. His sitters were predominantly his acquaintances, including those linked to the Kazan Art School and members of his family, particularly his wife, Alexandra Belkovich (1893-1983). Commissions outside his close circle of friends were rare during this period. Fechin's portraits were therefore uninhibited by any imposed boundaries.
The culminating moment of this period is epitomised by the present work: The Manicure. Portrait of Mademoiselle Girmond.
This exceptional masterpiece represents the quintessence of Fechin’s talent and technique. Painted in 1917, the revolutionary year that radically changed the course of history in Russia and large parts of the world, this work is a significant milestone. The region's instabilities – social and economic – which had a direct impact on Fechin's relationships with exhibitions and collectors in the West had already made themselves felt with the outbreak of WWI, but life had become even more strained for the residents of Kazan after the outbreak of the Bolshevik Revolution. Fechin would recall the following about this period, 'People excited by ideals took over the rebuilding of the country, hurrying to demolish the old, yet not having the physical capacity nor the necessary knowledge to exchange the old for the untried new…During the very first year of the revolution, the new building of the Kazan Art School lost its central heating. The thick stone walls froze through and the cold inside was unbearable…We drew and painted in fur coats, mittens and heavy boots…' (N. Fechin, Autobiography: The Russian Years, Persimmon Hill, Vol. 8, No. 3, p. 15). In this atmosphere Fechin produced one of his most stylish, if not decadent portraits of a femme fatale, symbolic of an elegant era that was rapidly disappearing.
A beguiling woman in chic attire embodying the Belle Époque - a charcoal grey dress and supple hat tied at the chin with a multicoloured bow - is depicted grooming her delicate nails. Seated at an angle, focused on her fingers, she is uninterested in the viewer. She appears to be aware of potential onlookers, yet consciously scorns them while attending to her own beautification.
With the edge of a palette knife as well as broad, expressive brushstrokes, Fechin uses a restrained yet rich palette, with varying gradations of black, red and brown to create a luxurious, velvety interior. The sitter is bathed in a radiant light, which also captures the glint of the copper tea service and lush fruits behind her. Localised accents of bright cobalt blue, gold and green add further lustre to the composition. The indulgent subject matter and sumptuous execution of this painting pose a contradictory statement to the place and time in which the work was produced. As if scoffing the realities of revolutionary Russia, the elegant Mademoiselle Girmond continues to be preoccupied with refinement and comfort. Not much is known about the sitter except that she was a student at the Kazan Art School. This is a striking, masterful portrait of one of Fechin's young female students, but more importantly, it is the definitive portrait of a fleeting era personified by a young fashionable woman.
The portrait of Mademoiselle Girmond left a deep impression on other students in the Kazan Art School. In her reminiscences about the school during the revolutionary period, one of the students, Vera Smirenskaya (b. 1898) described her unforgettable encounter with this painting: 'At that time, we no longer had paints to paint, we made them ourselves in a makeshift way, using a thick glass and pestle. Coloured grated powder mixed with poorly refined sunflower oil, folded into oil paper tubes. Of course, such paints left much to be desired…Feshin dreamt of paints of excellent quality. I remember how we students studied the portrait of Girmond painted by Feshin, what colours he used in one place or another. We especially noticed a dappled pink that became the shape of the lips. Apparently, Nikolai Ivanovich applied it with the most skillful glaze over a damp lower layer. He liked the wide, flat brushes and worked with them masterfully with the ease of a magician. Convex parts of the face and exposed skin were illuminated by the pearly glow of subtle nuances. The eyes in Girmond's portrait are alive, her lips are about to open and speech will sound' (G. Mogil'nikova, Nikolai Ivanovich Feshin, Moscow, 1975, p.130).
Among the rarest masterpieces by Nicolai Fechin from the Russian period remaining in private hands, this exquisite painting is appearing on the market for the first time since its execution by the artist. This is a unique opportunity to acquire one of the most important works executed by a major 20th century Russian artist.