Pastel on paper
Tate Collection
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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 Coolie
Presented anonymously 1939
adults
artist’s notes
Asian
axe
cloak
clothing and personal items
domestic
ethnicity
exploration
exploration: Citroën Trans-Asiatic Expedition, 1931-32
hat, cap
history
individuals: male
inscriptions
lifestyle and culture
man
nationality
objects
Pakistani
people
politics and society
porter
portraits
servant
society
symbols and personifications
tools and machinery
trading and commercial
work and occupations
paper unique pastel
A Coolie
support: 752 × 556 mm
Presented anonymously 1939
<p><b>Alexandre Jacovleff</b><span> 1887-1938 </span>
<br/></p>
<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-coolie-n04989" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04989</span></a> </span><b>A Coolie</b><span> 1931 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Inscribed 'Roman Mir | Tragbal | Juillet 1931 | A. Jacovleff' b.l.</span>
<br/><span>Pastel on paper, 29 5/8 x 21 7/8 (75.5 x 55.5)</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 (227) as 'Roman Mir (Tragbal). Himalaya Pamirs' </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Made, like </span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="/art/artworks/N04988" onclick="popTateObjects(event, -1, 'N04988');" title="View details of this artwork"><span>N04988</span></a><span>, in the course of the Citroën Trans-Asiatic Expedition. Probably 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/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a> of one of the coolies who helped the expedition across the very difficult mountain tracks of the Himalayas from Srinagar past Tragbal over the Burzil Pass. He appears to be a man from Hunza. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>The account in G. Le Fèvre, </span><i>La Croisière Jaune</i><span>
(Paris 1933), pp.61-4, confirms that Jacovleff passed through Tragbal early in July 1931. </span>
<br/></p>
<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, pp.371-2, reproduced p.371</span>
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Catalogue entry
2004-09-21T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults artist’s notes Asian axe cloak clothing and personal items domestic ethnicity exploration exploration: Citroën Trans-Asiatic Expedition, 1931-32 hat, cap history individuals: male inscriptions lifestyle and culture man nationality objects Pakistani people politics and society porter portraits servant society symbols and personifications tools and machinery trading and commercial work and occupations