Bry-sur-Marne

Title supplied by artist at time of donation, 1979. Alternative title, Alsation Bry-sur-Marne, supplied by Flora Scales to M. de Lange, 1983.

The dog is 'Tzigane', Boris Kalachnikoff's Alsatian, and the painting was made in their garden in Bry-sur-Marne, France.

Bry-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France, 12.6 km from the city centre. In 1953, when Boris and Christiane Kalachnikoff built their house in Bry-sur-Marne, the population was approximately 6,660 and the town still retained its rural character.

LETTER FROM FLORA SCALES TO JANET PAUL, LIBRARIAN, ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY, NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NEW ZEALAND, WELLINGTON, 11 June 1979 [see Related image 1]

[Stamped: Alexander Turnbull Library
12 June 1979
Art: JH [possibly JET, J.E. Traue, Chief Librarian]]

Masonic Village
Rotorua
11th June 1979

Dear Mrs Paul,

Please excuse me for not having written to you sooner but little things have hindered me from doing so: it is a grand plan to have my paintings photographed before they are filed!  they have all come out well and clear, and the surface will be good wearing: the dog [Bry-sur-Marne [BC040]] has come out beautifully!

I hope you are keeping well during this cold frosty weather though temperatures by the sea are not so low as inland ones especially if there is no wind.

Thank you again for the delightful photos.

Yours very sincerely,

Helen F.V Scales.

A black and white photograph of this work is included in an artist’s file dedicated to Flora Scales at the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, reference Scales, Helen Flora Victoria, 1887-1985, Artist file prints [see Related images 2-3]. The file contains black and white photographs on card of 26 of the artworks in the Alexander Turnbull collection and one not held in the collection [Untitled [Sand Dunes] [BC011]].

Each card measures 167 x 216mm and the image size varies. Each card has handwritten reference notes along the top detailing artist name, title, year, size, and reference number. Further, on the back of each card are handwritten annotations with information including media, reference numbers and location within the physical collection.

The cards in this file are undated. Correspondence B. de Lange and Kimberley Stephenson, Research Librarian Pictorial, Alexander Turnbull Library, September 2025, notes, “Neither the associated copy negatives nor the file prints are dated but based on notes I found in the negative register one group (intermittent between 1/2-092380-F and 1/2-092705-F) was in existence by May 1979, while a second group (intermittent between 1/2-162480-F to 1/2-162510-F) had been created by December 1986. Given most of the paintings entered the collection in 1979, this does suggest that the first group shows the works soon after they were accessioned. The second group appears to have been taken during reframing or conservation treatment as many are shown without their stretchers.”