Sixty Works by Modern Masters - Flipbook - Page 31
Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Goncharova
Russian, 1881 - 1962
L’Espagnole, circa 1916-1918
Oil on canvas
17 x 13 inches / 43.5 x 34.5 cm
Signed lower right: N. Gontcharova
Provenance
Private collection, Paris
Private collection, Spain
This painting is accompanied by a certificate
of authentication and is to be included in the
forthcoming catalogue raisonné of paintings by
Natalia Goncharova currently in preparation by
Mme Denise Bazetoux.
"The West has shown me one thing:
everything it has is from the East."
Russian avant-garde artist Natalia
Goncharova began her career with
works strongly inspired by Russian
folklore and tradition, as reflected
in her colourful and exceedingly
ornamental early compositions.
Between 1916 and 1918, when
the present work was painted,
Goncharova began to explore
the avant-garde aesthetic and to
experiment with Cubism. At around
the same time, she and her lifelong
30
partner Mikhail Larionov joined
Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in
San Sebastian, Spain. L’Espagnole is
one of a series of figures of Spanish
women painted by the artist during
this sojourn, in which Cubist
geometrics are beautifully tempered
by feminine curves and floral motifs.