Sergei Chepik

(1953-2011)

Sergei Chepik (1953-2011) who obtained French citizenship in 1993 - was hailed in the last 20 years by the Anglo-Saxon press as "a searing visionary” and “one of the greatest living Russian painters". His formal education included the Repin Art Institute in Leningrad (the former Academy of Fine Arts of Saint-Petersburg), which he graduated in 1978. His masterpiece "House of the Dead" (1979-1987) was awarded the Grand Prix at the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1988 and was bought by the Roy Miles Gallery in London, which opened to Chepik its exhibition space. The following year, his work "The Tree" (1989) was awarded the City of Monaco Prize. In 1990, Chepik’s first retrospective in London at the Roy Miles Gallery was an unprecedented success. The Daily Telegraph ran the headline "An unknown Russian genius comes to light" and Margaret Thatcher, prime minister at the time, invited him to the Houses of Parliament. From then on, Chepik exhibited each year in London, first at the Roy Miles Gallery and then from 1997 at the Catto Gallery, as well as in Paris. He painted the portraits of Rudolf Nureyev and Margaret Thatcher, and created a set of four monumental canvases for London’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral, inaugurated in January 2005.

Sergei Chepik paintings are part of private and corporate collections throughout Europe and North-America.

France

(1953-2011)

Title: Les Contes D'Hoffmann / The Tales of Hoffmann (1988)

Medium: Oil on canvas

Condition: Excellent.

Dimensions: Unframed: 13.8" x 13.8" (35.0cm x 35.0cm)

Signature: Signed & dated 88 lower right; signed, titled & dated on the back.

Literature: Reproduced in the Catalogue of Sergei Chepik - Autumn Exhibition 1990, Oct 10 - Nov 09 at Roy Miles Gallery, Bruton Street London, painting no. 12. The comment for this painting in the exhibition catalogue: "Comedians and puppets mimic our gestures, imitate our passions and hold up mirrors so that we may look at ourselves (THE TALES OF HOFFMANN)."
Also reproduced in Catalogue Raisonne (Resume) at page 177, illustration no. 17 in "Sergei Chepik (Works 1963-1994)" by Marie-Aude Albert, Paris 1994. Chepik was so fascinated about this subject that he decided to paint it again in 1991 this time on a larger size (120cm x 110xm) but with the same title and in a very similar manner - page 116, illustration 151 in the same book. "And the actors, puppets and other clowns which haunt Chepik so much, repeat our own gestures in his paintings, mimic our own passions and hold up mirrors in which we are tempted to recognize ourselves ('The Yellow Circus', 'The Tales of Hoffmann')." writes Marie-Aude Albert in "Sergei Chepik (Works 1963-1994)", Paris 1994 at page 114.

Exhibited: Part of the Sergei Chepik - Autumn Exhibition 1990, Oct 10 - Nov 09 at Roy Miles Gallery, Bruton Street London, painting no. 12 in exhibition catalogue.

Framed: Original Roy Miles Gallery Exhibition frame and Tru Vue museum glass added for enhanced protection.

Availability:    N/A - Exhibition loan from private collection.

France

(1953-2011)

Title: La mort et le soldat / Death and the Soldier (1989)

Medium: Oil on canvas

Condition: Excellent.

Dimensions: Unframed: 31.5" x 27.6" (80.0cm x 70.0cm)

Signature: Signed and dated 89 lower right; titled and dated 1989 on the back.

Literature: Reproduced at page 44, illustration no. 69 in "Sergei Chepik (Works 1963-1994)" by Marie-Aude Albert, Paris 1994. In this first monograph on Chepik, "Death and the Soldier" is illustrated right across Chepik's first masterpiece "Petrushka" (1984-1986) - page 45, illustration no. 71. The reason for this placement clearly indicating the "Death and the Soldier" as the starting point for "Petrushka" is provided by Marie-Aude Albert at page 43 in the same book: "'Petrushka' has within it the seeds of a great number of canvases which were painted after 1986, such as, of course, 'Death and the Soldier', 'The Ship of Happiness', the magical hot-air balloon drifting first above St. Petersburg and then later over Paris, 'The Golgota', which is outlined here in the top right-hand corner of the composition, and even 'The Afternoon of a Faun."
An even more specific reference stating "Death and the Soldier" as the starting point for "Petrushka" can be found in the Catalogue of Sergei Chepik - Autumn Exhibition 1990, Oct 10 - Nov 09 at Roy Miles Gallery, Bruton Street London, in the "Petruska" section first paragraph: "After leaving Staraya Ladoga, Chepik went to work in Rostov, another old Russian town with a rich historical and artistic past. There, he painted a new series of landscapes and worked on monotypes inspired by old Russian tales. One of them, DEATH AND THE SOLDIER was the starting point for PETRUSKA, an ambitious, phantasmagoric composition, full of dreams, tales and legends, where the artist imagines and stages a woderful and idealised Russia."
Reproduced also in Catalogue Raisonne (Resume) at page 177, illustration no. 18 in "Sergei Chepik (Works 1963-1994)" by Marie-Aude Albert, Paris 1994.

Framed: Original Roy Miles Gallery Exhibition frame and Tru Vue museum glass added for enhanced protection.

Availability:    N/A - Exhibition loan from private collection.