BC105

Untitled

[Farm Buildings]

High viewpoint over hilly, rural scene with vegetation. Centre two buildings outlined with darker repeated marks. 

Other title(s)
Bry-sur-Marne
Date
c. 1960 1969
Object type
drawing
Medium and materials
pencil on paper
Dimensions
134x202mm
Place Made
Bry-sur-Marne, France
Inscriptions

Verso UL (not in artist's hand) pencil 79-324

Verso UR (not in artist's hand) pencil A253/27

Details
Provenance

Donated to the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand by H. F. V. Scales, 1979

Condition Report

Unframed work on white paper. Page torn from a spiral-bound sketchbook, 26 spirals. Light brown discolouration on left margin.

Copyright Licence
Courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Reference no. A-253-027
Current Collection

Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand

Current Location

Wellington, New Zealand

General notes

Title and date taken from a painting of this subject Farm Building Near Paris [BC043]. Alternative title taken from Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand documentation.

Appears to be from same sketchbook as Untitled [Farm Building] [BC104].

Alexander Turnbull Library documentation notes, "A rough sketch of buildings with sea in the background."

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 1-2]. 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.”

Christiane Devèze, Boris Kalachnikoff’s wife, in conversations with Marc Bonamie, Paris, France, 2016, “Flora loved to paint outdoors - nature, landscapes - in sunlight. She often drew and painted animals, especially our dogs and cats, and was very happy painting the plum trees in full bloom in our garden at Bry-Sur-Marne. Boris would often walk with her into the countryside to paint the farmland and houses in earlier days. We would sometimes go together to his parents' country house in Genevieve St Bois, to Provence where my parents lived, or to Bleymard in the Lozère District where my family has a holiday house. We all drew and painted happily, side by side, discussing our work all the time, but keeping our own different styles during these painting holidays.” – ‘Christiane Devezes: Conversations and Letters II’, Flora Scales, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Nelson, New Zealand, 2018

Related images