Polluted bibliography

ALEXANDRA EXTER by Jean Chauvelin and Nadia Filatoff

The demonstration starts on the cover of the book with an unknown abstract painting (ill. 115 inside the book, p. 132) bearing a signature that is also unknown to date.

It would be fastidious to provide a detailed commentary on every one of the “new works” put into circulation by this publication.

But a few comments are necessary from the outset:

With the exception of two theatrical works (small-scale gouaches on paper that are unsigned), all the “new” works, that were therefore previously unknown, carry the reference “private collection.” They are not historically documented in the artist’s lifetime or in that of the heir to her production, Simon Lissim (died in 1981), because none of these signed works come from the Lissim heritage, nor do they figure in the archives of the artist or her heir.

Aside from the apparent stylistically incoherent aspect of some of the works and the stylistic mistakes (see below), not to mention the manner of painting and the formal execution that differ surprisingly from the rigorous approach that characterizes Alexandra Exter’s work, the book features some previously unknown series in the artist’s output. These include, for example, a series of theatrical costume projects (for Romeo and Juliet, winter 1920-1921) in oil on canvas (to date, we have no knowledge of anything of this kind, and for good reason, since the use of oil painting conflicts with the destination of the work).

There are series of abstract compositions inspired by other known abstract compositions by Exter when she did not work in “series”.

“Variations” on Cubist, Futurist and abstract works, all of which are signed (whereas the original versions are rarely signed) and whose execution does not correspond to the artist’s manner.

Stylistic mistake

Page 229 features a “study” for a well-known work by the artist – Construction 1923 (96 x 96 cm, in the MOMA collection in New York; the work was part of the Lissim heritage and comes directly from the artist’s  studio). Other “variations” of this composition have surfaced since 2003. These works bear a signature that is incorrectly placed in relation to the composition – in other words, if the signature were correct, the composition would have to be turned incorrectly by 90°. This anomaly is easy enough to explain by the fact that the painting was hung incorrectly at the MOMA in the mid-nineteen eighties. This mistake wasn’t corrected until the end of 2008 (see the hanging and reproduction in the catalogue to the recent exposition “Rodchenko-Popova : Defining Constructivism”, at the Tate Modern in London, 2009, where a small section of Exter’s works has been included).

The proposed signatures

A reference chart of signatures figures at the end of the volume – page 413 – with 5 signatures, and the following comment: “aside from rare exceptions, Alexandra Exter’s works are signed or monogrammed in Latin or Cyrillic letters” (Indeed! What would be the other likely possibilities ?).

Contrary to the rules of a professional work of documentation worthy of this name, the five signatures proposed here are not accompanied by any bibliographic or documented reference, no verifiable reference of any sort as to the source of the information, or even in relation to works from which they come other than the book where they figure (2003).

In conclusion

• We do not know from which works the new signatures derive.
• Not one comes from  a work from an identified public or private collection.
• No historical or documentary reference is provided.
• No reference to works known and/or listed during the lifetime of the artist or that of her heir Simon Lissim is given.

There is no choice but to consider these signatures hypothetical and requiring verification, which was what we were obliged to do when examining some of the “new” works when they have been exhibited or put on sale. (Verifications and handwriting study practiced for the first time in Paris in early summer 2006).

The 2^nd and 5^th signature (from top to bottom on page 413) are “new”, meaning, unknown in the work of the artist before the date of this publication (2003). In addition, all of the works on which these signatures appear are referenced as being in “private collections”, known only to the authors of this publication, since they were never exhibited or published before.

A handwriting examination of signature 2 by Madame Petit de Mirbeck, handwriting expert at the Appellate Court in Paris concluded that it is a calligraphy and not properly speaking a signature ³Un recensement d’autres signatures sera fourni sur le site internet de l’association Alexandra Exter d’ici peu, la mise en ligne ayant été retardée en raison de l’action des autorités de justice de Tours suite à une plainte contre X ayant aboutie à la saisies de l’exposition Exter présentée au Château de Tours fin janvier 2009.

Works published in the 2003 volume whose attribution is questionable

Faced with the impossibility of examining all the new works published in this book, the comments here are limited to those with a univocal stylistic aspect and/or works that have been accessible in recent years (usually because they were on view for public auction).

The list below is a first draft for a complete listing to be drawn up in the future; it refers to illustrations in the 2003 publication, indicated by illustration number and page. The asterisk refers to works belonging to series that figure in the 2009 Tours exhibition :

12*/p.34   13*/p.35   14*/p.   36   15*/p.37   16*/p.38   19*/p   .45   21*/p.48     22*/p.49   25*/p.53   26*/p.54   27*/p.54   41*/p.67   42*/p.68   48*/p.77   52*/p.79     54*/p.81   57*/p.84   71*/p.93
87*/p.107   88*/p.108   89*/p.109   90/p.110   96/p.116   109*/p.125   110*/p.126   111*/p.127   112*/p.128   113*/p.129   115*/p.132-3   121*/p.141
126*/p.147   129*/p.149   135*/p.154   142*/p.162   144*/p.166   145*/p.167   150*/p.174     151*/p.175   193/p.211   217*/p.229   221*/p.235   227/p.238   228/p.239   231/p.241     232/p.242   251/p.258
312/p.333   331/p.351   341/p.357     342/p.357   345/p.358   367/p.404   368/p.405

The illustrations 255*/pages 264-271 were on view at the 2009 Tours exhibition; the inscriptions were rejected by the handwriting study conducted in February 2009 in relationship with the Tours exhibition.

Illustration 267/p. 277 raises the question of a signature that seems to be traced over a pencil inscription. The question will remain open until the original can be examined.

Note : a number of these works, along with “versions” of, or “variations” on them, form large series that circulated in public auctions or in commercial galleries that are separately listed (see the sections : public sales and collections, and comments on the Tours exhibition, 2009).

ALEKSANDRA EKSTER : CVETOVYE RITMY / ALEXANDRA EXTER, FARBRYTHMEN by Georgij Kowalenko, Gos. Russkij Muzej, Palace Editions, Saint Petersbourg, 2001

The reproductions included in this publication call for fundamental reservations for stylistic reasons but also and especially because of an imaginary provenance that discredits the attribution all the more. See “Imaginary Provenances” on this site.

L’exposition Alexandra Exter présentée par le Musée d’Art Contemporain de Moscou a été accompagnée de la publication d’un livre intitulé Alexandra Exter et dont l’auteur est Georgy Kovalenko. Dans un volumineux ouvrage de 304 pages l’auteur reproduit une grande quantité d’œuvres dont l’attribution à Alexandra Exter a déjà été commentée sur ce site ou mériterait de l’être car plusieurs parmi ces attributions ne paraissent pas acceptables.

Sur les pages 137 à 146 figurent 23 gouaches dites « Rythme de couleurs » que l’on connaît déjà de précédentes publications, il en est de même pour la toile Ville, 1911, p. 64 et Les ponts de Paris, 1912, p. 86-87 pour ne citer que les plus connus.

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