Nikolaï Saraphanoff (russian 19th - 20th Centuries) - Orientalist Watercolor From Istanbul

Watercolor of a view of Isamboul representing boats and sailboats on the Bosphorus.

Sign.
Dimensions of the work: 29.5 cm x 43.5 cm
Dimensions with frame: 39.5 cm x 53 cm

Saraphanoff Nikolai was a member of the group 'Union of Russian Artists in Consantinople' (1921-1923) and president of the society Russian artists in Istanbul between the two wars. All that is known about Nikolai Saraphanoff's Russian past is that he was born in Saint Petersburg in 1855. In the early 1920s, he fled to Istanbul, where, if only for a short time, he became a member of the Union of Russian Painters in Constantinople and participated in its exhibitions. It is known that he was admitted as a member in the ballot of December 21, 1922. After the collapse of the Union in 1923, Saraphanoff continued to communicate closely with local Russian-speaking émigrés; perhaps because his Turkish was far from perfect and he struggled with the language barrier. for example, we can cite his active participation in a major event dedicated to Russian culture in 1926 in one of the city's Russian clubs, which resulted in the creation of decorations. Furthermore, in 1927, with other émigré artists and journalists, he not only worked on the almanac Russians on the Bosphorus but also created its cover. It's safe to say that he knew Nikolai Kalmykoff and Dimitri Ismailovitch well since they participated in almost all of the above activities together. Nikolai Saraphanoff painted many different views of the city, focusing mainly on the various mosques and streets of the old city. The reason for this choice could be his desire to sell them as quickly as possible because these works were in high demand at the time. The artist himself suffered a rather tragic fate; a military court sentenced him to 25 years in prison for “political guilt” (Anonymous, “Ankara cinayeti etrafında dünkü yeni ifşaat”, 1946). According to emigrant Roxana Umarova (with whom researcher Marina Sığırcı had the opportunity to speak), shortly before the start of the Second World War, the artist was "falsely accused by the Turkish authorities of spying for the account of Soviet Russia” (Sığırcı 2018, 79). ). (Archive.metromod.net)