News

Exhibition curators: Guy Abot, Director of the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee
and Jeanne Paquet, Head of the Heritage and Tourism Department.

Nicolas Tarkhoff's work has not been presented in a retrospective way in France since 1986. Sixty-one works are brought together in this exhibition, not far from those of his contemporary and friend Maximilien Luce, whose largest collection in France is held by the museum. The exhibition explores in a monographic way the two major chronological phases of his career: Paris and Orsay. By following this chronological thread, visitors can discover works from private collections as well as loans from the National Centre for Fine Arts, the Association des amis du Petit Palais of Genève and the Piscine-Musée d'Arts et d'Industrie André Diligent in Roubaix.

The exhibition catalogue (60 pages) is on sale for €18 at the Museum shop.

Impressionnist & Modern.
Hôtel Dassault - 7 Rond Point des Champs-Elysées, Paris.
Les vases de dahlias.
Oil on canvas. Circa 1905. 
73 x 60 cm (28,74 x 23,62 in.) 
Former collection Oscar Ghez,
Petit Palais Museum, Geneva.

Researchers from ALANT (Friends of Nicolas Tarkhoff Association) and the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee are continuing to collect the painted works of the artist. 815 oils on canvas, cardboards or papers—whose images are known—have been gathered in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné (to date, in its digital form). Among these, more than a third are unknown or never been published. 

This work, started several years ago, is carried on in order to collect and classify the documents related to this important work scattered throughout the world and to eliminate dubious or apocryphal paintings. It is based on the in-depth knowledge of Tarkhoff's art, acquired through the long experience of members from the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee whose quality of expertise is recognized by auction houses and collectors. This work was initiated with the aim of getting the public acquainted with the artist's paintings and establishing a chronology that shows the diversity of his pictorial writing, the evolution of his talent and the subjects he enjoys.

The visit of private collections, archives and museums along with the reproduction of the artist's works in various publications and catalogs of sales are essential guides to bring this work to completion.

This catalogue raisonné will present the oil paintings according to a double classification, thematic and chronological. It will be bilingual (French-English).

We are grateful to collectors, institutions, museums (in France and abroad) and auction houses which have enabled us to gather this first phase of documentation.

Many paintings remain to be discovered (several hundred?); this is the reason why we invite the owners of the painter's works to come forward so that the we may include these works in the forthcoming Catalog raisonné of the painted work.

Sale "20th century art, 1900-1950".
Bord de la Seine (titled on the back by the artist).
Oil on cardboard, 418,5 x 24,02 in.
An eponymous painting was exhibited at the Salon des Independants in 1907 (No. 4700) in Paris,
at the Druet Gallery in 1909 (No. 43) and in December 1910 in St. Petersburg during the great retrospective devoted to the work of Tarkhoff by the Revue Apollon
(93 paintings lent by collectors and the French State).

Five paintings: 
- Portrait du fils de l'artiste (Portrait of the son of the artist: Jean,in the artist's garden in Orsay. 
Oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm,  c. 1916-1918. Former collection Boris Tarkhoff.
- Mon jardin à Orsay (My garden in Orsay). Oil on canvas, 193 x 112 cm, c. 1912.
Exhibition : Vystavka kartin “Mir iskusstva”, Moscow, 13 november-18 december 1912.
Literature : Exhibition catalog “Mir iskusstva”, Moscow, 1912. V. Bialik, Nikolai Tarkhov, Moscow, 2006. 
G. Romanov, Mir iskusstva, 1898-1927, Saint-Petersbourg-Moscow, 2010.
- Coq en courroux (Rooster in anger). Tempera and gouache on paper on mounted canvas,
51,5 x 63,5 cm, c. 1915. Former collection Oscar Ghez, Petit-Palais, Geneva.
Exhibition : Nikolai Tarkhov, National Galery Tretyakov, Moscow, 2 April-11 May 2003.
Literature : Exhibition catalog, Nikolai Tarkhov, Moscow, 2003. G. Abot, Arrêt sur images, Coq gaulois 1914, 2016.
- Péniches sur la Seine (Barges on the Seine), Austerlitz Dock. Oil on canvas, 60 x 90 cm, c. 1904-1905.
- Porte Saint-Denis, boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. Oil on canvas, 70 x 50 cm, c. 1901-1903.
All the paintings will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint.

On November 1, 2018, a delegation from the Association Les Amis de Nicolas Tarkhoff (Nicolas Tharkhoff's friends) went to the Orsay cemetery (Essonne department, France) to place a commemorative plaque on the stele of the tomb of Nicolas Tarkhoff and his wife Jeanne-Yvonne Deltreil. 
After cleaning the tomb, the delegation placed bouquets of chrysanthemums on it, flowers that the artist often painted.
In spring 2019, the association will proceed with a rejuvenation of the tombstone.

Coq au printemps (Rooster in spring).
Oil on canvas, titled on the back by the artist, 80.5 x 100 cm, circa 1919.
The landscape in the background is the countryside of Orsay. An eponymous painting is exhibited at the Salon des Independants in Paris in 1920.

In 1914 begins the First World War. Millions of men are going to kill each other, crushed in the hell of a modern war. During the weeks following the beginning of the conflict, Tarkhoff, in his house in Orsay, made the variants of a rooster standing on its spurs, who stood firmly on the flagstaff of the French flag. He also paints fighting roosters and, more peacefully, singing roosters. These roosters are those of his barnyard. He loves them for their beauty and their colors, for their proud character too. He trains them to remain motionless during the pose sessions and makes them singing by imitating their cry.

This painting will be included in the Catalog raisonné in preparation by the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee.

Russian Art. Mrs. Tarkhoff bedridden and her baby, circa 1905.
Oil on canvas. 59 x 81 cm.
Provenance: former collection Oscar Ghez, Petit-Palais Museum of Geneva (Switzerland).
Bibliography: Gaston Diehl, Nicolas Tarkhoff, Petit-Palais Edition, Geneva, 1982.
This painting will be included in the Catalog raisonné of the painted work in preparation by the Committee Nicolas Tarkhoff.

Жена художника в лиловой накидке с сыном Жаном. 1905
Холст, масло. Подпись внизу слева. 59 х 81 см
Провенанс : коллекция Оскара Геза. Музей современного искусства «Пти-Пале», Женева.
Библиография : Гастон Дил, Николай Тархов, Издание Пти-Пале, Женева 1982.
Комитет имени Николая Тархова подтверждает подлинность этой картины. Она будет включена в «Научный каталог произведений», который готовится к изданию комитетом Николая Тархова.

Spring Sale:
Dogny auction, Space Montelly, chemin de Montelly 2, Lausanne (Suisse).
Lots 249 to 251:
- Cat purring on a cushion. Oil/wood, 33 x 24 cm.
Former Oscar ghez collection (Petit Palais Museum, Geneva).
- Two small sizes painted on wood panel:
Balloons and carousel, circa 1903. Oil/wood, 19.5 x 13.5 cm.
These three works are listed in the Catalogue raisonné of the work painted 
in prepration by the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee.

Important russian Art: oil on board, 120 x 80 cm,
signed lower right; further signed, inscribed with title on the reverse.

This work will be included in the forthcoming Nicolas Tarkhoff Catalogue raisonné 
being prepared by the Nicolas Tarkhoff committee.

Николай Тархов: Грушевое дерево. Важный русский Арт. 
Масло на борту, 120 х 80 см. Christie's, 2 декабря 2017 года.

"In Tarkhov’s dining room".
Marc Chagall. Pencils, ink and gouache on paper, 13.3 x 20.6 cm. 1911.
Pompidou Center, Paris.

"В столовой у Тархова."
Марк Шагал. Бумага, карандаш, чернила, гуашь, 13,3 x 20,6 см. 1911 г.
Центр Помпиду, Париж.

In 1911, Marc Chagall visited Nicolas Tarkhoff and drew the family members. Two sketches (1), stored in the Centre Pompidou in Paris, illustrate the bond of friendship that Chagall and Tarkhoff maintained before the First World War.
These two moving drawings by Chagall, signed, dated 1911 and titled in Cyrillic cursive script by the artist, come from a private collection. They were acquired by payment in kind in 1988 by the Centre Pompidou and are now kept in the storehouse of its Cabinet of Graphic Art.
"In Tarkhov's dining room": Chagall, who is standing at the end of the dining room in all likelihood, reproduces the decor of the room. With a cursive gestures, he makes a first draft in black pencil. The table, originally located at the center of the sheet, finds its place a few millimeters higher. The same holds true for other furniture elements which eventually freeze under the violet ink.
The room is soberly furnished: a dresser in the background, a chair on the side, a fireplace where a fire is burning on the left, a flower-shaped sofa on the right. On the round table with three feet and covered with a red tablecloth, a bowl of fruits and two cups of coffee. The floor is covered with large red tiles, probably in terracotta. The only decoration are two framed paintings hanging on the wall above the dresser—a still-life is visible on the one—, another one without frame, depicting a character, is hanged at the left of the sofa. Photographs or small paintings are placed on the fireplace mantel shelf; we distinguish a mother and child painting and some portraits. Mrs. Tarkhoff is wearing a blue blouse and a black skirt. She is sitting on a stool and is warming up near the fire; perhaps is she falling asleep. Tarkhoff, wearing his inseparable hat, an elbow on the table and his head resting in his right hand, seems pensive, unless he is dozing. Boris, his youngest son, is sitting to his right, while the eldest, Jean, has fallen asleep on the sofa. Here, Chagall interprets a scene in which the actors surrender to melancholy, reverie or sleep.

(1)  Invited to Tarkhov's. Marc Chagall. Pencils, ink and gouache on paper, 13,3 x 20,6 cm. 1911.
https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/ressource.action?param.id=FR_R-97833c3...
In Tarkhov’s dining room. Marc Chagall. Pencils, ink and gouache on paper, 13,3 x 20,6 cm. 1911.
https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/ressource.action?param.id=FR_R-a430959...

Ralli Museum, Marbella (Spain). 
Exhibition Women's Portraits (Retratos de mujer). 4 June 2016 - 27 May 2017.

A new exhibition, “Women’s Portraits”, shows a selection of works by European artists. Classic and modern works that try to discover ways in which artists have approached the female form throughout the ages, including works by Andre Derain, Marie Laurencin, Jacques Villon, Louis Latapie, Nicolas Tarkhoff...

Una nueva exposición temporal, titulada “Retratos de Mujer”, obras seleccionadas de artistas europeos en torno a la representación femenina. Obras de estilo clásico y vanguardista componen la muestra que trata de descubrir distintas formas en las que los artistas se han acercado a las representaciones femeninas a lo largo de los siglos. Entre los que encontraremos a André Derain, Marie Laurencin, Jacques Villon, Louis Latapie y Nicolás Tarkhoff...
​(Photo Museo Ralli).

Accademia Fine Art: impressionist and modern art, Monte-Carlo.
Young woman in red blouse. Oil on canvas, circa 1902-1904, signed lower right, 41 x 32 cm. 
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist prepared by the Nicolas Tarkhoff Committee. (Courtesy of Academia Fine art).

Russian works of Art: Portrait of the Artist's Sons. Oil on canvas, 84,5 x 74,5 cm. C. 1908. Jean and Boris, the artist' sons, painted in the apartment-studio on rue Belloni, Paris.
This painting will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist.
(Courtesy of MacDougall Arts Ltd.)

Archives départementales de l'Essonne, Chamarande.
Conference and pictures with two voices,
Brigitte Adde et Guy Abot (Association Les Amis de Nicolas Tarkhoff).

De Moscou où il naît, à Paris où il s’installe en 1899, attiré par les Impressionnistes, jusqu’à Orsay, modeste village de Seine-et-Oise où il choisit de vivre de 1911 à  sa mort en 1930 – le temps du bonheur familial, puis des temps difficiles –,  Nicolas Tarkhoff trace avec courage et ténacité son chemin d’artiste passionné. Proche des Fauves, il est salué par Apollinaire. 

Russian Art Auction: Chambre de maman le matin, signed, also further signed, inscribed "Orsay" and titled on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 100 by 140 cm. Executed in 1909. 
Provenance: Collection of Mrs Tarkhoff, the artist’s wife. Thence by descent. 
Private collection, UK. Exhibited: Tarkhov Nikolai Aleksandrovich. Vystavka proizvedenii, Editorial office of the magazine ”Apollon”, St Petersburg, December 1910. 
The present lot will be included in the forthcoming Catalogue raisonné of the artist being prepared by the Nicolas Tarkhoff committee. (Photo MacDougall's).