27 - BORIS ANISFELD (RUSSIAN-AMERICAN 1878-1973)

BORIS ANISFELD (RUSSIAN-AMERICAN 1878-1973) Dante's Canto V, circa 1938 tempera and watercolor on board 81.2 x 65 cm (32 x 25 in.) framed dimensions: 97.8 x 80 cm (38 1/2 x 31 1/2 in.) signed lower right PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the artist by Dr. John Ignatius Perl, Chicago, late 1950s Thence by descent Private Collection, New York EXHIBITED 17th International Exhibition of Water Colors, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1938, under the title ‘From Dante’s Allegory (Canto V)’ (label on verso) LITERATURE Another work from the series is illustrated in Eckart Lingenauber, Olga Sugrobova-Roth, Boris Anisfeld. Catalogue Raisonne, Dusseldorf, 2011, p. 111, no. P.099, entitled ‘Francesca da Rimini (Dante’s Inferno, Canto V)’. Based on the photograph provided, Olga Sugrobova-Roth has confirmed the authenticity of the work. LOT NOTES Boris Anisfeld trained at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. He made his name in the Mir Iskusstva circle and designed for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes before emigrating to the United States. From 1928 to 1956 he taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he developed a visionary late style built on allegory and religious and literary subjects. This work illustrates Canto V of Dante’s Inferno, the Second Circle of Hell, where the souls of the lustful are swept forever on a dark, howling wind. Pale nude figures churn upward in a crimson torrent beneath jagged black crags and a storm-lit violet sky, while two robed figures, presumably Dante and Virgil, stand above the chaos. The Art Institute invited the picture to its 1938 international watercolor exhibition, at the height of the artist’s Chicago career. It belongs to the same Canto V series as Francesca da Rimini, which is recorded in the artist’s catalogue raisonne. Keywords: Boris Anisfeld, Dante’s Inferno Painting, Russian American Symbolist, Art Institute of Chicago, Ballets Russes Designer, Francesca da Rimini N.B. Condition reports are available upon request. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals LLC and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions & Appraisals, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.