Letter from R. Doboujinsky (the artist's son) to Donald Oenslager, Paris 10/2/63: "Of those works designed for the Moscow Art Theatre, there are only a few remaining in our hands. It was the wish of my late father that nearly all of these should go as a legacy to the Art Theatre's Museum. Of the few remaining designs my mother will eventually condescend to part with a painting of the set--of the first Act of 'A Month in the Country' by Turgenev my father painted in 1919 for my mother after his decor realized in 1909--it is a fairly important and typical of my father's work at this time."
The artist apparently mounted the sketch on a sheet of contemporary Russian newspaper.
Inscribed at lower right, "D. 1909, 1919; "in red ink, "E.O.D. 22 1919;" in black ink, "-(Une Mois à la Campagne) app. à Acte I-Doboujinsky."