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Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955)

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The Wood Engraver, W.G. Watt, A.N.A., signed and dated lower right: N. Fechin '24, signed again and titled on a partial label affixed verso, oil on canvas, 50'' x 40'', est:$400,000/600,000. Exhibited: Winter Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, NY, 1924, winner of the Thomas R. Proctor Prize for portraiture ($200). Literature: The American Magazine of Art', New York, NY, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 9 & 16, illustrated; M.N. Balcomb, ''Nicolai Fechin'', Northpoint Press, 1975, pp. 48 and 50, illustrated. Note: The Wood Engraver, W.G. Watt, A.N.A. was painted in 1924 shortly after Fechin and his family arrived in New York from Russia. The portrait depicts William G. Watt, an engraver and graphic artist and an Associate of the National Academy of Design, in profile at work on an engraving in his Stroudsburg, PA studio. This masterwork exhibits FechinÕs unique painting style with its bold brushwork and complex composition, while also demonstrating the artistÕs extraordinary ability to capture a sitterÕs personality. Together with the magazine ''The American Magazine of Art'', New York, NY, Vol. 16, No. 1, and the book M.N. Balcomb, ''Nicolai Fechin'', Northpoint Press, 1975. Provenance: The J.D. Trust, Paradise Valley, AZ

Visual: Generally good condition with spots of craquelure concentrated across the center of the canvas. Two areas of unstable craquelure on the oil can and on the white element on the table top. Three tiny spots of paint loss along the lower left edge. Blacklight: A quarter-sized spot fluoresces along the upper right edge and a quarter-sized spot fluoresces in the white pigment on the figure's shoulder but these appear to be in the hand of the artist. No evidence of restoration under blacklight.

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