MASTERPIECES

RUKHIN Evgeny Lvovich (1943–1976) Composition with two frames. 1971. Canvas, oil, tempera, PVA, epoxy resin, assemblage. 70 × 66

Rukhin's masterpiece, created at the peak of his creative form. By 1971 his special style had already formed and the right recipes had been found. Nemukhin taught him to include different resins and glues into the composition. Some technical tricks were suggested to Rukhin by his friend Rabin. And soon Russian and world art was enriched with a new genre of assemblage abstraction, gravitating towards pop-art.

Evgeny Rukhin was a prominent participant not only of the Leningrad “Gazanevsky culture”, but also of the Moscow Lianozovo group. Together with Rabin and Nemukhin, he participated in the Bulldozer exhibition in 1974, was in the wasteland in Belyaevo. Unlike other St. Petersburg artists, his paintings were well known in Moscow. By his 30s, he was already very commercially successful. Rukhin's active civic position caused considerable annoyance to the authorities. After his tragic death, many continue to believe that the studio with the sleeping people was set on fire by a deliberately sent provocateur.

The work “Composition with two frames” is published in the catalog “Evgeny Rukhin: 1943–1976”, published by the “Avangard on the Neva” publishing house in 2009.

YAKOVLEV Vladimir Igorevich (1934–1998) Geometric composition. 1964. Paper, gouache. 59.5 × 42.5

Before us is a great rarity — divisionism of Vladimir Yakovlev, consonant with his trademark theme “portrait of the wind”. In addition, it is the most valuable period — 1964. The gouache is signed by Yakovlev's hand and dated on the back. Divisionist abstractions by Vladimir Yakovlev appear on the auction market once in a few years. So collectors — be sure to pay attention.

Vladimir Yakovlev is a legend of unofficial art. A half-blind artist who spent a third of his life in psychiatric institutions, he created amazing pictorial worlds populated by portraits of flowers, cats with birds, and portraits of the wind. Since the 1960s, his works have been purchased by members of the Soviet intelligentsia — doctors, scientists, artists.

“Geometric composition” was previously in the collection of Evgeny Koreshkov and published in his catalog “Other Art” (photo on page 275). The authenticity, as it should be in such cases, is further confirmed by Valery Silayev's conclusion, which notes that the picture has museum value.

1960s UNOFFICIAL ART

ZVEREV Anatoly Timofeevich (1931–1986) Landscape with a church. 1979. Oil on canvas, scratching, dusting. 47 × 75

Strong painting of “late Zverev” from 1979. Landscapes with churches at this time became quite a frequent theme in his work. They were often requested by admirers of his work. The picture is painted carefully, with preparation, good paints on a good base. So, someone bought it all and invited the artist. And the work was successful. It has both rapidity and an improvisational moment — a kind of “pictorial jazz”, which is especially appreciated in the work of the legendary artist.

SLEPYSHEV Anatoly Stepanovich (1932–2016) A walk. 1998. Oil on canvas. 60 × 80

Classic Slepyshev with his main and most recognizable theme — a pastoral subject, which the artist himself called “Walks”. There is a surprising effect in Slepyshev's works. A seemingly crude expressionist technique with coarse strokes, with deep relief, with layers of paint, and in the finale — a feeling of airiness to the haze. Amazing! On the one hand, the painting is very decorative, but at the same time, there is not a shadow of sweetness in it. That's why Slepyshev is loved.

Anatoly Slepyshev did not belong to the well-known nonconformist groups. Not to the “Lianozovites”, not to the “Sretenets”, not to anyone else. He was a member of the Union of Artists, but he was certainly in the orbit of unofficial art. He was often harassed by the authorities for his free manner. There was a case when his nudes were ordered to be removed from a large exhibition for being “pornographic”. And only the unexpectedly firm position of the young Soviet art critics made it possible to defend the work. Which is not always the case these days.

TULIPANOV Igor Vissarionovich (1939) Corridors of the imagination. 1990s. Acrylic on canvas 42 × 30

Igor Tulipanov was a Leningrad nonconformist, a student of Akimov, under whom Chemiakine and other artists of unofficial art studied. He participated in a high-profile exhibition at the “Nevsky” Palace of Culture in 1975, after which the “Gazanevsky culture” got its name. Tulipanov emigrated from the USSR in 1978 — first to France and then to the USA. In America, he had a contract with the famous gallery of Eduard Nakhamkin. He lives and works in New Jersey. Tulipanov's paintings are in many museum collections abroad, including the Norton Dodge Museum. Hockey player Vyacheslav Fetisov has a significant collection of his works. The mainstream of the artist's work is surrealism. Often with elements of palimpsest painting of the Renaissance. The artist is inspired by images of Bosch, da Vinci and other masters. “Corridors of the imagination” is a classic recognizable subject of Tulipanov. Curiously, in a drop flowing down the cup, you can see the reflection of the author — a technique also well known from the European painting of 500 years ago.

1970s UNOFFICIAL ART

SHABLAVIN Sergey Petrovich (1944) Invitation to Space (from the series “Birth of the Circle”). 2020–2022. Oil on canvas. 90 × 90

Classic Shablavin with his most important theme — the formula of the landscape. Sergey Shablavin is a seventies artist, his first exhibitions were apartments. And the very first was held in the mid-1970s in the studio of the sixties artist Leonid Sokov. Shablavin's work is philosophically related to Moscow's romantic conceptualism, whose innovators were Kabakov, Vasiliev, and Bulatov. In the late 1970s, Shablavin exhibited at the Gorkom of Graphics on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street. His works were acquired by Costakis and Norton Dodge, the founder of the main museum of Russian nonconformist art.