Igor Alexandrovich Ershov, Russian Soviet, 1907 to 1974, a watercolor painting on paper, In Front of Torgsin, 1934. Signed and dated lower right. Titled lover left. Provenance: The painting comes from the collection of Viktor Kholodkov, 1948 to 2015, who fulfilled his passion for books, avant grade design and paper memorabilia by devoting his life to collecting and dealing of prominent works of Russian graphic art of the first half of the 20th century. Torgsin, All Union Association for Trade with Foreigners, is a state organization in the USSR that was engaged in servicing guests from abroad and Soviet citizens who had currency values, gold, silver, precious stones, antiques, foreign currency, that they could exchange for food and other consumer goods. Igor Ershov was a Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist who lived in Saratov and Moscow and whose works glorified the Republic of Tajikistan. In the war years Ershov worked as a military correspondent. After the war he continued to design industrial advertisements, postal stamps, calendars, and posters, as well as illustrate children's books and magazines. One of a kind artwork.