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Sale 2556 | Lot 142
Additional images and condition
17
Sale 2556 - Lot 142
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
ALEXANDRA EXTER (1882-1949)
Constructivist cityscape. Set design for an unidentified production. Graphite on paper. 228x297 mm; 9x11 3/4 on 10x13-inch sheet, with second design on verso showing decorative scrollwork in ink surrounding a pencil sketch of a central female figure standing on a windy hilltop, measuring roughly 210x253 mm; 8 1/4x10 inches. Signed "A Exter" in ink, lower right recto, number 17X139.
Provenance: Gift of the artist to her student, Vera Cohn; thence by descent.
Constructivist cityscape. Set design for an unidentified production. Graphite on paper. 228x297 mm; 9x11 3/4 on 10x13-inch sheet, with second design on verso showing decorative scrollwork in ink surrounding a pencil sketch of a central female figure standing on a windy hilltop, measuring roughly 210x253 mm; 8 1/4x10 inches. Signed "A Exter" in ink, lower right recto, number 17X139.
Provenance: Gift of the artist to her student, Vera Cohn; thence by descent.
Based on similar drawings, Exter likely created this design while working for the theater ensemble of Alexander Tairov in Moscow in the 1910s. While there, she created numerous costumes for various productions and designed sets that transformed two-dimensional stage spaces into three-dimensional abstract structures by incorporating multi-level platforms that would be illuminated by intersecting rays of light.
Condition:
Matte burn around perimeter of drawing, scattered moderate foxing. Edges a bit rough and chipped (does not affect drawing). Verso also foxed and with heavy brown tape surrounding perimter. Darkly inked and detailed.
Condition reports and additional images are provided as a courtesy and should be used by you to aid in the formation of your own opinion regarding condition. All material is sold subject to Swann's standard terms and conditions of sale as published in our catalogues and posted on our website, and include the following terms: (1) all property is sold "as-is"; and (2) works cannot be returned on the basis of condition.