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an oval portrait of a man with black hair and a white shirtan old drawing of a man in a suit and tiean image of a painting of a man with a hat onan image of a round wooden table top with a hole in the middle
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2371 - Rufino Tamayo (1899–1991), Portrait of Mrs Topazia Markevitc…
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Estimate CHF 6,000 - CHF 8,000
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Description
Rufino Tamayo (1899–1991), Portrait of Mrs Topazia Markevitch, née Princess Caetani, 1958, charcoal and red chalk on paper, signed and dated, 48 cm (visible part) Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist, and has remained in the family to this day Note: In 1957, whilst living in Mexico City to teach orchestral conducting, Igor Markevitch met the painter and the two struck up a friendship. The following year, the conductor invited him to his estate in Villars-sur-Ollon (photos). It was during this stay that the artist produced the portrait of the Markevitch couple. The works have remained in the family ever since. Rufino Tamayo (1899–1991) – Portraits of Mr and Mrs Markevitch Igor Markevitch was a composer and renowned conductor of Russian origin. He spent his childhood in Switzerland, where he began his training as a pianist, which he then continued in Paris under Alfred Cortot and Nadia Boulanger. He made his debut as a composer in 1928, at the request of the founder of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev. At the end of the Second World War, he returned to settle in Switzerland with his second wife, Princess Topazia Caetani (1921–1990), and began his international career as a conductor. For twenty years, he conducted major orchestras from Stockholm to Montreal, via Havana, Paris, Madrid and Monte Carlo, and gave masterclasses in Salzburg, Moscow and Mexico City. Rufino Tamayo was an avant-garde painter regarded as one of the greatest Latin American artists of the 20th century. His work is a synthesis of the European avant-garde and pre-Hispanic art. Imbued with poetry and symbolism, his work explores, amongst other themes, the human condition in the face of the immensity of the universe. In 1957, whilst living in Mexico City to teach orchestral conducting, Igor Markevitch met Rufino Tamayo, with whom he formed a friendship. The very next year, the conductor invited him to his estate in Villars-sur-Ollon (photos). It was during this stay that the artist painted the portrait of the Markevitch couple. The works have remained in the family ever since.
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About the sale Art from the Orient and the Far East – Paintings and sculptures
Auction location
Auction time 09/23/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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