Virtual Catalogue Raisonné

The Prince, #458, c. 1930

HP00664

The Prince, No. 458

Date of Work: Circa 1930

Medium: Oil on board

Size: 27 1/2x25 1/2

Provenance: Purchased from Grand Central Art Galleries (Paul Buchanan), New York, August 11, 1978; Heritage Auction Gallery, Dallas, Texas, auction date June 10-11, 2009 lot #77001

Notes: "The Prince" by Hovsep Pushman, was painted circa 1930, and has a Pushman inventory number, #458. It is signed, lower right, on table edge: Pushman. The support is a 1/2-inch press board-like masonite which is mounted to a 5 member, mortise and tenon, half-mitre stretcher which has a canvas stretched to it. The support is in excellent condition. The artist applied a layer of gold leaf to the support and painted over it, which was a common practice of his. The extent of the gold leaf beneath the paint has not been tested. The paint was applied as a smooth fluid paste in the background, and as a stiff paste in the figure and in the porcelain vessel. There is considerable brushmarking and incising with a brush handle or stylus in the areas of these still-life elements, which is characteristic of the artist's technique. The ground-paint layers remain structurally very sound. Under UV examination there are very few instances of restoration, apart from a couple spots in the background and possibly in the white highlights on the ceramic vessels. In 1983, Judge Buchanan had the painting assessed by the conservation department at the Indianapolis Museum of Art which developed an examination report. Chief Conservator Martin J. Radecki determined that the painting had, at that time, an even, thin layer of natural resin varnish which had not discolored considerably. Following the examination, the painting was lightly surface cleaned and coated with an 8% solution of Soluvar gloss in VM&P naphtha, and refitted into its frame with brass mending plates after the frame rabbet was cushioned with felt. This minimal treatment was carried out by the Indianapolis Museum of Art conservation department in August 1983. LITERATURE: "Hovsep Pushman: Painter and Poet. Armenian-American Master of Still-Life Painting Combined Western Classicism with Eastern Harmony," in Illuminator, Winter 1978, Grand Central Art Galleries, New York, cover ill. in color; ill. black and white p. 3 as "Collection Judge Paul H. Buchanan, Jr., Indianapolis, Ind."