Vision of the child Bartholomaeus (1922, Sotheby's), Mikhail Nesterov, 1922

Mikhail vasilievich nesterov 1862-1942 russian vision of st. Sergius, when a child, 1922 signed in cyrillic and dated 1922 (lower left) oil on canvas 35 7/8 by 43 in. 91. 1 by 109. 2 cm lot sold. 4,296,000 usd provenance grand central palace, new york (acquired directly from the artist) collection of louis and nettie horch, new york thence by descent nesterov executed this variation of vision in 1922, 32 years after he completed the work in the tretyakov. Many identifiable factors contributed to nesterov's return to the subject, but one stands out. Like the majority of artists who remained in russia after the revolution, nesterov had fallen on very difficult times. Word spread of a fundraising exhibition of russian artwork to be held in new york, organized by sergei vinogradov, igor grabar, and sergei sytin, and assisted by christian brinton, curator of the major russian exhibition held at the brooklyn museum in 1922. Nesterov quickly decided to submit his own work to the exhibition; not only did he hope to find a new audience in america, but, like the other 100 some artists who participated, he relied on financial relief to rejuvenate his artistic career. Vision is listed as work number 547 in the russian art exhibition catalogue, and grabar and brinton invoke nesterov's name frequently in their essays as one of the most important names in russian art. A number of new york times articles from march 1924 also mention nesterov, and vision is illustrated as "visions of st. Sergius when a child. " by m. Nesteroff in an article dated march 9, 1924. Object Type: painting. Date: 1922.