Collection

Arab Merchant

Aleksandr Yakovlev

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

These two paintings by Aleksandr Yakovlev show the artist’s key role in ushering in a new classicism in post- Revolutionary Russian art. Yakovlev trained at the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts but traveled at a young age to Italy and Spain, where he applied the light and modeling of the Old Masters to modern subjects. Unable to return to Russia after the outbreak of the October Revolution, Yakovlev settled in Paris but continued to travel across the globe, immersing himself in world cultures. Arab Merchant was painted in Tunisia.

Caption

Aleksandr Yakovlev (Russian, 1887–1938). Arab Merchant, 1930. Oil on canvas, 19 1/8 × 12 13/16 in. (48.6 × 32.5 cm) frame: 23 1/2 × 17 × 2 1/4 in. (59.7 × 43.2 × 5.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frederick Loeser Fund, 30.1150. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

Gallery

Not on view

Title

Arab Merchant

Date

1930

Geography

Place made: Europe

Medium

Oil on canvas

Classification

Painting

Dimensions

19 1/8 × 12 13/16 in. (48.6 × 32.5 cm) frame: 23 1/2 × 17 × 2 1/4 in. (59.7 × 43.2 × 5.7 cm)

Credit Line

Frederick Loeser Fund

Accession Number

30.1150

Frequent Art Questions

  • Does all Yakovlev's work feature the person not looking at audience?

    No, he painted subjects in various ways all around the globe. He was an expedition painter and he also taught at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts art school.

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Artists and makers

Aleksandr Yakovlev

2 works in the collection