Modern British & 20th Century Art - 5th June 2019

Lot 18

‡Fredda Brilliant (Polish

Estimate £400 - £600 | Hammer £1800

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Description

‡Fredda Brilliant (Polish, 1903-1999)

Anton Chekhov (Russian, 1860-1904), playwright and short-story writer

Signed and dated 1968

Bronze

83cm high (2)

With a book: Fredda Brilliant, Biographies in Bronze (New York: Shapolsky Books, 1986)

Brilliant wanted to convey Chekov as a writer, a doctor and to include reference to The Seagull, she also knew that because he suffered from tuberculosis he always enjoyed fresh air. Her models for the competition for a statue of Chekhov for Chekhov Boulevard in Moscow, for which this is one, all depict him in his doctor's smock, on light airy pedestals with the seagull hovering above. When invited, it was strongly implied that she would certainly win the competition and with weak opponents she felt certain of the outcome however, the result in fact was that none of the applicants were chosen. Her friend and fellow sculptor Mr. Neroda remarked 'Do you think we Russians are going to let a foreign sculptor make a statue of our Chekhov? Not even if he were the best in the world'