Kirill Mikhailovich ZDANEVICH (1892-1969) Cubist composition. Sapho cigarettes, 1915 The composition imitates a collage. The words or part of words are "САХО" (Sapho; a brand of cigarettes from the tobacco factory of the brothers I. and A. Aslanidi in Rostov on the Don), "20 ШТУК" (20 pieces), "Тов БОГД" (Company A. N. Bogdanov, St. Petersburg tobacco factory), "ПАПИ" (the first two syllables of the word meaning cigarettes), "GUSI" (?) and "ВЫСО" (for выс[ший] со[рт]: superior quality). Watercolor, ink. Unsigned. 18 x 13 cm This work was mounted by four glue dots on laid paper (AIM watermark?) on which is marked in ink on the left "пиросы Сафо" (the first syllable is cut off: "Sapho cigarettes"), in the center "блиндаж на позиции" (shelter or casemate on position) and on the right "3 декабря 1915" (December 3, 1915). Provenance: - Christie's sale, December 9, 1999, lot 564. - Various labels on the back of the mount: Galerie Berès, Lowe Art Museum (1983, Cat. N° 431). K. M. Zdanevitch took part in the Great War, with the rank of "praporchtchik" in the 1st regiment of Caucasian riflemen. He was slightly wounded on at least two occasions (December 5, 1914 and May 8, 1915). These inscriptions on the mounting sheet give both the title of the work "Les cigarettes Sapho", the place where it was executed - the casemate in which the artist was at the front, and the date - December 3, 1915. [RUSSIAN ART]