Franz Alekseyevich Roubaud
Circassian Horseman
Oil on panel. 38 x 30 cm.
Signed and dated lower right: F. Rouabaud 87.
Roubaud was born in Odessa in 1856 to French parents. Although he remained a French citizen until adopting German nationality in 1914, he consistently referred to himself as a Russian painter throughout his career. The present work, depicting a horseman, is an early example, painted whilst Roubaud was staying in St. Petersburg following travels to Munich, Paris, and the South of France. Despite his youth, the first steps of his career were already behind him: Roubaud participated in his first exhibition in 1883, and three years later he received a commission from Russian Tsar Alexander III for 19 large historic narrative paintings. This work, dated 1887, depicts a lone rider in a panoramic landscape. It was a motif which the artist pursued throughout the years, and this is a particularly evocative example painted with loose, flourishing brushstrokes in keeping with its theme.
We would like to thank Eckart Lingenauber, the author of Franz Roubaud's catalogue raisonné (E. Lingenauber and O. Sugrobova-Roth: Franz Roubaud catalogue raisonné, Düsseldorf 2012), for confirming the authenticity of this work in person.
Provenance
Rhenish noble provenance.