Sotheby’s To Hold First Modern Russian Art Sale
Sotheby’s, which leads the Russian art market and has in 2006 seen global sales of Russian Art realise more than £82 million is delighted to announce that it will stage the first ever dedicated sale of Modern and Contemporary Russian Art in London on Thursday, February 15, 2007. Estimated to fetch in excess of £1.5 million, it will include more than 100 works, many of which have never been offered at auction and come from private American, European and Russian collections.
The sale, which follows on from Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening and Day auctions1, presents a diverse range of works by Russia’s leading post-war artists who worked outside the official framework of the Soviet Union of Artists. It will showcase works from the 1960s through to the 1990s, in a variety of media from fine art to sculpture and photography, and will include works by key figures such as Dmitri Krasnopevtsev, Oscar Rabin, Lydia Masterkova, Eric Bulatov and Andrei Filippov.
In July 1988 Sotheby’s held the first auction of Russian avant-garde and Soviet contemporary art in Moscow. The sale, which was attended by about 2,000 people, was a tremendous success and realised a total of £2,085,050, attracting over 11,000 visitors to the pre-sale exhibition alone. It featured works by non-conformist artists such as Ilya Kabakov, Eduard Steinberg, Grisha Bruskin and Vladimir Nemukhin.
Discussing the robust market for Russian art, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Russian Department in London said: “Last year the contemporary sections of Sotheby’s Russian Sales in London performed exceptionally well, realising more than £2.6 million, and in response to this evolving market and the needs of our increasingly discerning clients Sotheby’s will conduct its first ever auction in London entirely devoted to modern and contemporary Russian art. This dedicated sale comes almost 20 years after Sotheby’s first sale of Russian modern and contemporary art in Moscow, which was a resounding success. Sotheby’s expects this to become a regular fixture on the auction calendar.”
“The burgeoning demand for Russian art is one of the great success stories in the international art market in the last several years. Over the past three years this tremendous growth in the Russian art market has expanded from the traditional areas of 19th century and modern fine art, as well as Fabergé and Russian decorative works of art. In 2006 Sotheby’s also introduced biannual sales of Russian Books, Maps and Photographs in order to meet the continually developing needs of our clients.”
Sots Art
One of the most important works in the sale is Erik Bulatov’s (b. 1933) Revolution-Perestroika, which has come from a private American collection and is an exceptional example of ‘Sots Art’. The ‘Sots Art’ movement formed towards the end of the Brezhnev era and was inspired by artists such as Vitaly Komar (also represented in the sale) and Alexander Melamid who devised a new form of art which parodied Socialist Realist art. It was heavily influenced by pop artists such as Andy Warhol and became increasingly popular, dominating the underground art agenda. The group produced art in a wide variety of media, with less emphasis solely on painting.
Erik Bulatov, who studied at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow from 1952 to 1958, was one of the most important members of the nonconformist art movement in the Soviet Union, and like many of his fellow nonconformists he made his living as a successful illustrator of children’s books. Bulatov concentrated on the boundary between art and society, and endeavoured to fuse the avant-garde, Constructivist tradition of the 1920s and Realist tradition in his work. Prevalent throughout his art, and evident here in Revolution-Perestroika, is the superimposition of text on illusionistic space and realist representations. The text evokes associations with Soviet propaganda, posters and banners and alludes to the government’s oppressive power over society. It is estimated to fetch £80,000-£120,000.
Another important work is the oil on canvas Landscape and Space (illustrated left) by Oleg Vassiliev (b. 1931), who collaborated with ‘Sots Art’ artist Erik Bulatov and developed a new style of painting using photorealism, combined with text – a radical approach at the time. Vassiliev, who was influenced by the leading Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Favorsky (1886-1964), initially followed the path of Ilya Kabakov (b.1933) and trained as a book designer at the Surikov Art Institute in Moscow. In Landscape and Space, Vassiliev uses photorealism to create a ‘real’ landscape which he subverts by using the spectral light motif. It is the first time the work, which has come from a private American collection, has been offered at auction and it is estimated to fetch £20,000-£30,000.
Space for Rent by Alexander Kosolapov (b. 1943) is a further example of ‘Sots Art’ and is estimated at £15,000-£20,000. Like Bulatov, here Kosolapov uses the official language of the Soviet state in a parodic manner to comment on the bankruptcy of the Soviet system.
Abstract Art
The sale also features a group of works by abstract artists, which is highlighted by Lydia Masterkova’s (b. 1927) oil on cardboard and canvas Untitled. Along with Dmitri Plavinsky (b. 1937), Oscar Rabin (b. 1928) and Vladimir Nemukhin (b. 1925), Masterkova – one of the leading female nonconformist artists of the 1960s and 70s – belonged to the Lianozovo group which developed an ‘alternative’ culture in Russia. Her work combines avant-garde art of the 1910s and Russian Abstract Expressionism. Untitled is believed to have been purchased during the Bulldozer Exhibition in Izmailovo Park in September 1974 and is one of the first in a series of large canvases which Masterkova began in 1973 and completed in 1975 when she emigrated to France. This exemplary early work has come from a private Greek collection and is estimated at £35,000-£45,000.
Conceptual Art
Among the conceptual artists represented, the most noteworthy highlights are by Igor Makarevich (b. 1943) – one of the most important Moscow Conceptual artists – and Andrei Filippov (b. 1959). Makarevich was one of the founders of Moscow Conceptualism, a movement which combined the Russian literary tradition with the image, and was well known for creating objects, installations and photographs. Text played a fundamental role in many of his works, for example in I Love USSR which abandons conventional forms of representation and is estimated to fetch £15,000-£20,000. He executed this work in Paris in 1989 on his first trip to the West during the perestroika era, when there were more opportunities for Soviet citizens to travel (both abroad and domestically) than during any other period of Soviet history. Makarevich was impressed with Paris and during his stay there produced a number of objects and small installations entitled I Love Paris.
Filippov studied in the production department of the Moscow Art Theatre and early-on defined his personal artistic style as monumental, iconic and almost propaganda-like – elements which can be seen in West. He was an active participant in the exhibitions of AptArt – small, unofficial exhibitions held in artists’ apartments – and eventually become one of the leaders of the new generation of the Moscow Conceptualist school. Filippov’s interest in ruptured cultures and civilizations and the opposition between West and East is reflected in his art. Much of his work is considered prophetic, as demonstrated by his use of two-headed eagles to spell the word West in his oil on canvas board West, which is estimated to fetch £15,000-£25,000.
Another important highlight is Subway Station by the figurative artist Natalia Nesterova (b. 1944). After graduating from the Moscow State Art Institute in 1969 Nesterova became a member of the Artists' Union of the USSR. Opposing heroic Socialist Realism she portrayed scenes from daily life. Nesterova's work is characterised by its dramatic qualities, and its bold and expressionistic style stands in stark contrast to polished Academic Realism. Subway Station is estimated at £20,000-£30,000.
The sale will be on view at Sotheby’s in London from Sunday, February 11th until Wednesday, February 14th.
