Ivan Kuleff Art Deco Painting Portrait Of Young Woman Head Raised

Ivan Kuleff portrait of young woman with head raised, Russian spiritual circa 1930 gouache signed

Gouache on panel signed lower right I. Kuleff, depicting a female figure in profile, head turned upside down, in an intense, collected composition. The work, dated circa 1930, is part of the spiritual universe of Ivan Kuleff, a Russian emigrant painter who settled in Paris from 1926. The raised face, closed eyelids and half-open mouth give this figure a strong inner presence, somewhere between abandonment, prayer and silent vision.

The dark palette, made up of deep browns, bluish grays, muted whites and muted reds, creates a meditative atmosphere. The material, nervous and vibrant, builds the figure with thick strokes, smears and successive repeats. The composition is more than a simple portrait: it evokes a spiritual apparition, in an expressionist and symbolist vein typical of Russian artists of the interwar period.

The strength of the work lies in the tension between the darkness of the background and the radiance of the face. The oblique movement of the head gives momentum to the composition. Kuleff does not seek a smooth finish: he works the surface like a living material, with great expressive density. The painting has an intimate, grave, inhabited presence.

Ivan Artemovitch Kuleff, or Ivan Kulev depending on transliteration, was a Russian painter born in Rostov-on-Don in 1893 and died in Montmorency in 1987. His work is referenced by the Van Abbemuseum. In the 1910s, he studied at the Moscow School of Painting with Valentin Serov and Constantin Korovine, then continued his training at the Imperial Academy in Saint Petersburg. After the war, he lived in Croatia, then Zagreb, before working as a decorator for the Skopje theater in Macedonia. In 1926, he moved to Paris. In the 1940s, he created cycles inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, the Book of Job and the Apocalypse.

Condition: surface traces, wear and age patina visible, particularly in the backgrounds. The whole retains a very fine decorative and expressive presence. Antique stuccoed wood frame with original patina, circa 1930.

Dimensions: 36 cm x 31 cm overall with frame. Work approx. 29 cm x 24 cm.