Stunning Goncharova at MacDougall`s
(Artdaily.org)

MacDougall’s will present a highly significant example of Natalia Goncharova’s ‘Spanish Ladies’, one of the most celebrated themes within her entire œuvre, as part of the Important Russian Art Auction on 27 November. Impressive in scale, standing life-size, the subject of L’Espagnole exhibits some of the most distinctive of Goncharova’s painterly skills, including her tendency to monumentality and sophisticated decoration. The depiction of the fabric on the shawl and the exquisitely rendered lace mantilla contrast to elegant effect with the flowering magnolias in the background, another one of Goncharova’s most essential motifs. The Spanish theme first occurred to Goncharova in 1916 whilst she was working on designs for the ballets Triana and Spain for Sergei Diaghilev’s productions. In company with Diaghilev, Massine and Larionov, Goncharova journeyed around