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Description: signed N. Gontcharova. (upper right) oil on canvas

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Dimensions: measurements 23 7/8 by 18 1/8 in. alternate measurements 60.6 by 46 cm

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Provenance: Sale: Pierre Berge & Associés, Paris, December 10, 2002, lot 48, illustrated
Sale: Sotheby's London, November 19, 2003, lot 217, illustrated

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Exhibited:

Moscow, Central House of Artists, XVI Russian Antique Salon, 2004

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Notes: PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION

Portrait of a Woman (Tatiana Ryabushinskaya) serves as a rare example of the Natalia Goncharova's portraiture during her Parisian period. Unlike many other Russian immigrant artists, Goncharova rarely painted commissioned portraits, and when she did she painted only those she knew well, including artists, poets and performers.

Born in 1917, Tatiana Ryabushinskaya was the daughter of the well-known Moscow couple Mikhail Ryabushinsky and Tatiana Primakova. She studied ballet in private Parisian studios, and in 1931, at the age of fourteen, she debuted in Nikita Balieff's theatre,"The Bat." There she was noticed by George Balanchine, who asked her to join the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo. Under Balanchine's guidance, she blossomed into a brilliant ballerina--the future prima-ballerina of the French stage. She went on to dance in many famous European and American productions, for which critics praised her unusual musical talent and her amazing technical skill.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Goncharova was a set and costume designer for several Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo productions, and she undoubtedly encountered the young ballerina many times. In 1937 and 1939, Ryabushinskaya performed the leads in The Golden Cockerel and Cendrillon, and in 1949, Ryabushinskaya's husband produced The Diamond Heart. Goncharova prepared set and costume designs for all three of these productions, and, as confirmed by the sitter's attire, this portrait was most likely painted at the time of the third production, circa 1949. The technique, palette and ornamental background are all reminiscent of Goncharova's set designs of the 1940s.