NATALIA GONCHAROVA (Ladyzhino, 1881 – Paris, 1962) - Portrait of the dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine / Portrait of a man (c. 1916)

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GRAND MARCH AUCTION OF OLD MASTERS AND COLONI...

By Templum Fine Art Auctions

Mar 25, 2026

Set Reminder 2026-03-25 10:00:00 2026-03-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : GRAND MARCH AUCTION OF OLD MASTERS AND COLONIAL ART https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/templum-fine-art-auctions/grand-march-auction-of-old-masters-and-colonial-art-22766
AUCTION · 25 MARCH · 3:00 PM EXHIBITION OPEN FROM 13 MARCH Templum Fine Art Auctions info@templumauctions.com

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• Lot Description
  Pair of oil paintings on canvas. Dimensions: 60 x 40 cm each. Signed “NG”, the portrait of Léonide Massine in the lower left corner and the other in the lower right corner. A certificate from Jean Chauvelin, Paris, is included. This pair of portraits, painted around 1916, belongs to one of the most innovative periods in Natalia Goncharova's career, when the artist was developing, together with Mikhail Larionov, the language of Rayonism, one of the most unique contributions of the Russian avant-garde. One of the canvases depicts the dancer and choreographer Léonide Massine, a key figure in the Ballets Russes, while the second, also conceived as a bust portrait, remains unidentified. In both compositions, the representation of the face and the human figure is reduced to a synthesis of planes, rhythms, and colors, so that individual identity gives way to the visual energy of the image. Forms interpenetrate, volumes fragment, and chromatic fields juxtapose without fully merging, constructing a vibrant surface where the visible brushstroke, resolved in hatching and hatching, intensifies the sensation of inner light. The palette, dominated by warm contrasts and the recurring presence of golden yellows, reinforces the dynamism of the whole and underscores Goncharova's exploration of the decomposition of form and the radiation of light. Poised between figuration and abstraction, these works still retain recognizable references to the human bust, but transformed by a visual syntax that derives from Cubism and Futurism without being limited to them. Both paintings are closely related to two drawings dated 1916, executed in gouache, graphite pencil, and India ink on paper, held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. These drawings belong to the series known as Theatrical Portraits, which corresponds to the period when Goncharova began to frequent the Moscow theater scene intensely, particularly the Ballets Russes circle. These works thus reflect not only the artist's radical ...
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