Pastel on paper
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/alexandre-jacovleff-1350" aria-label="More by Alexandre Jacovleff" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Alexandre Jacovleff</a>
A Turkoman
Presented anonymously 1939
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paper unique pastel
A Turkoman
support: 759 × 562 mm
Presented anonymously 1939
<p><b>Alexandre Jacovleff</b><span> 1887-1938 </span>
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<p><span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/jacovleff-a-turkoman-n04988" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04988</span></a> </span><b>Un Turcoman</b><span> (A Turkoman) 1931 </span>
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<p><span>Inscribed 'A. Jacovleff | Un Turcoman | Heirat [sic] le 23 mai | 1931' b.r.</span>
<br/><span>Pastel on paper, 29 7/8 x 22 1/8 (76 x 56)</span>
<br/><span>Presented anonymously 1939</span>
<br/><i>Prov:</i><span>
Purchased by the donor from Mme A. Jacovleff, the artist's mother, 1939</span>
<br/><i>Exh:</i><span>
</span><i>Alexandre Iacovleff Peintre attaché à l'Expédition Citroën Centre-Asie ... Exposition de Peintures et Dessins</i><span>, Galerie J. Charpentier, Paris, May-June 1933 (186)</span>
<br/><i>Lit:</i><span>
Maynard Owen Williams, 'The Citroën Trans-Asiatic Expedition reaches Kashmir' in </span><i>National Geographic Magazine</i><span>, LX, 1931, p.431 </span>
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<p><span>One of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a> executed in the course of Jacovleff's journey as artistic adviser to the Citroën Trans-Asiatic Expedition, known as the 'Croisière Jaune', which set out from Beirut in April 1931 and made its way through Syria, Persia and Afghanistan, over the Khyber Pass, across the Gobi Desert and Mongolia, and finally reached Peking in February 1932. A full account of the expedition is given in G. Le Fèvre, </span><i>La Croisière Jaune</i><span>
(Paris 1933). </span>
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<p><span>The present drawing was made at Herat, Afghanistan, on 23 May 1931. A <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photograph</span></a> reproduced by Williams, loc. cit., shows Jacovleff making a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/pastel" title="Glossary definition for 'Pastel'"><span>pastel</span></a> of a Turkoman (possibly this very work) in the open air watched by three Turkomans, including one on horseback who appears to be the model. Underneath is the caption: </span>
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<p><span>'Just as M. Jacovleff was about to start out for the bazaars of Herat in search of good models, these men rode up to offer their services. Though they are not representative of this part of Afghanistan, they made <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/picturesque" title="Glossary definition for 'Picturesque'"><span>picturesque</span></a> subjects.' </span>
<br/><span>Another drawing of a Turkoman made at the same time is reproduced in </span><i>Alexandre Iacovleff: Dessins et Peintures d'Asie</i><span> (Paris 1931), pl.13. Jacovleff's exhibition at the Galerie Charpentier in 1933 included three drawings entitled 'Un Turcoman (Herat)' (184-186), presumably one of each model. That the Tate's drawing was 186 is confirmed by the fact that it was listed at the time of acquisition as 'Drawing 186 - Turcoman (Herat Afghanistan)'. </span>
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<p><span>The Turkomans are a group of Turco-Tartar tribes of Central Asia, living mainly in the south of old Russian Turkistan. </span>
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<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><span>Ronald Alley, </span><i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i><span>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, p.371, reproduced p.371 </span>
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Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults animals: mammals Asian clothing and personal items ethnicity hat horse individuals: male man objects people portraits riding society transport: land