Basil Ivan Rákóczi (1908-1979)
Le Paon (1949)
Oil on canvas, 72 x 46.5cm (28¼ x 18¼'')
Signed; also signed, dated 1949 and inscribed with title verso

Provenance: The artist's family by...

Basil Ivan Rákóczi (1908-1979)
Le Paon (1949)
Oil on canvas, 72 x 46.5cm (28¼ x 18¼'')
Signed; also signed, dated 1949 and inscribed with title verso

Provenance: The artist's family by descent

Le Paon (The Peacock) is likely a representational piece reflecting the concept of eternal life. Rákóczi regularly used symbolism in his paintings and would take ideas from many and varied religious creeds and myths from around the world. The peacock is a universal symbol and would thus be of especial interest to the artist.

Possibly he was referring here to the peacock symbolizing death and resurrection in early Christianity. More specifically in this painting, the artist is linking the power of this immortality to the mortality of mankind. The peacock struts over the heads or minds of the three characters. The fruit trees add a clear sense of life but also act as a way to include more colour.

Indeed, Rákóczi's use of colour is strong as it is in so many of his works and this feature, alongside the three wookie characters, continues a link running through many of his paintings from 1940 and his early Dublin years to his death in 1979.

In April 1949, when this canvas was painted, Rákóczi was living in a small rented house called le Nid in Menton in the south of France. He was very poor and would soon have to give up paying rent and rely on friends for spare beds, a situation that would continue for some years both in the south of France and in his beloved Paris.

Our thanks to the artists Grandson, Christopher Rákóczi for his help in cataloguing this lot.

 

 

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