?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,200 - $ 1,800
NICOLAI CIKOVSKY (1894-1984)
On the Waterfront. Oil on canvas, 1935. Signed, M. Cikovsky, lower right. 229x305 mm; 9x12 inches.
This painting is a study for an important work of the same title. The larger version is documented with a full page illustration in Nancy Heller's book, "The Regionalists," Watson-Guptil Publications, 1976.
Nicolai Cikoivsky worked in the mural division of the New Deal artist's work programs. He was awarded three mural projects. In 1937, he created a large oil on canvas for the Silver Spring Post Office, Silver Spring, MD. He completed four murals for The Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, Washington, DC, 1938. In 1939, he completed five tempera panels for the Post Office in Townsend, MD. All of these works survive. The Silver Spring, MD Post Office mural is on permanent display in Silver Spring's Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library. According to Raphael Soyer, Cikovsky was one of the most talented artists of the 1930s. Sadly, the artist developed eye problems which interfered with his creativity. This is a prime example of the artists best period.
