Self-portrait

Details

Oleg Vassiliev (b. 1931)
Self-portrait
signed with monogram and dated '2000.' (lower right); further signed, signed with monogram, dated and titled 'O. VASSILIEV./"SELFPORTRAIT"/2000.' (on the reverse)
pencil and oil on canvas
24¾ x 18 in. (62.9 x 45.7 cm.)

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist, 2000. Collection of Roman Tabakman.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2011.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, Oleg Vassiliev: The Past Isn't Dead. It Isn't Even Past, Dartmouth, 2000, illustrated p. 9, listed p. 32, no. 17.
N. Kolodzei ed., Oleg Vassiliev: Memory Speaks (Themes and Variations), St Petersburg, 2004, illustrated p. 90.

Exhibited

Dartmouth, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Oleg Vassiliev: The Past Isn't Dead. It Isn't Even Past, 6 November-9 December 2000, no. 17.

Special Notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 20% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

In Vassiliev's Self-portrait, the artist portrays himself against a large window overlooking an endless grid of similar windows that are bathed in a bright and hazy light. Details in the foreground are only truly discernible when illuminated by that distant light. The artist's face, and in particular his eyes are very dark. Although he seems to be looking directly out to the viewer's space, it is very difficult to see whether his eyes are open or closed.

This rare self-portrait was by Vassiliev for the cover of his autobiography How I Became an Artist.

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