RUSSIAN CLASSICS

KAPUSTIN Grigory Ivanovich (1865–1925) Moonlit night at sea. First quarter of the twentieth century. Oil on canvas. 71.5 × 115.8

At first glance, it is clear that this is a work of a student of Aivazovsky. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Grigory Kapustin worked for several years in the studio of the outstanding marine painter in Feodosia, even made free copies of his works. Kapustin's paintings in tsarist Russia were printed on postcards in huge circulation. The artist was widely known and successful. Today his works are kept in many regional museums, including Peterhof, as well as in Russian and foreign private collections. After the revolution, many of his paintings were taken out of Russia, and now they are gradually returning home from foreign auctions. The painting “Moonlit night at sea” is accompanied by the expertise of Anna Dergacheva.

TARKHOV Nikolay Alexandrovich (1871–1930) Haystacks. Early 1910s. Oil on canvas. 49.7 × 35.2

The spectacular impressionist Tarkhov. Today we perceive the Russian painter from the “World of Art” as an artist of the Russian Abroad. He worked for many years in France. In that country he received wide recognition. And in the same country his career was destroyed in a cruel and exemplary way. All of Tarkhov's “crime” was that he had the courage to refuse the influential marchand Vollard (who promoted Cézanne and Picasso). The latter offered the successful artist cooperation, but Tarkhov responded in the spirit of, “I don't need anything, I can do it myself”. Vollard did not forgive the refusal. He arranged for all galleries to close their doors to Tarkhov. According to legend, after the conflict with Vollard, Tarkhov was unable to sell any of his works. Of course, this is doubtful. But the artist's business did fall into decay. He died in poverty and almost dropped out of art history. But after Perestroika, he was remembered in Russia, important exhibitions were held, and Tarkhov returned to the ranks of in-demand artists. Today, Nikolai Tarkhov's works can be seen in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery and the State Russian Museum.

1960s UNOFFICIAL ART

BELENOK Petr Ivanovich (1938–1991) Flight. 1976. Hardboard, whitewash, collage, mixed media. 113 × 113

Note the size. More than a meter. A large-scale, complex and expressive work of the inventor of “panic realism”. It is truly multi-part, composite. There are elements of applique, and traditional for Belenok magazine collage. Such works are rare today. I would like to point out that Belenok is among the price leaders. Over the past year, works of a comparable class have increased in price by one and a half to two times. Today his works storm the million mark in the domestic market. And the artist, as is often the case, ended his days in poverty. In fact, he gave up a well-fed life and a successful career for an independent path in art. As a young man, Belenok was a successful official sculptor, making busts of Lenin for village councils in Ukraine. He gave up and went to Moscow to make real art. And history has put everything in its place. Petr Belenok today stands in the first row of artists of the postwar unofficial art. “Panic Realism” is recognized as an important innovative trend. And Petr Belenok's works adorn the most important private collections.

VULOKH Igor Alexandrovich (1938–2012) Landscape. 1969. Oil on cardboard. 50 × 79.5

Igor Vulokh is a man of the sixties, a graduate of VGIK. An aesthetic nonconformist. However, in 1961 he was expelled from the institute just for politics. Vulokh, together with Vorobyov and Steinberg, arranged an exhibition to which foreigners came without the consent of the authorities. This turned out to be enough to expel the artist with the wording “for professional incompetence”. Today, no one remembers those who expelled him. But Vulokh is still one of the most demanded masters of abstraction. Original, recognizable, with his own expressive style. The work requires inexpensive restoration, but it will certainly become an ornament to the collection.

SOVIET CLASSICS

RESHETNIKOV Fyodor Pavlovich (1906–1988) No war. 1960s. Oil on canvas. 143 × 98

The biography of Fyodor Reshetnikov is just a synopsis of the unpredictable history of Russia in the twentieth century. With incredible twists and turns of fate. Judge for yourself: the son of an icon painter born in the reign of Nicholas II, ended his days under Gorbachev in the status of People's Artist of the USSR and winner of two Stalin prizes. And, of course, Reshetnikov is our “Mother Tongue” and the primers of all Soviet schoolchildren. Sure! He is the author of the famous painting “A poor again” — a pictorial reproach to all negligent students. But the first Stalin Prize Reshetnikov received in 1949 for two other paintings — another portrait of Stalin and genre canvas “Arrived on vacation”, where a visiting boy, a student at Suvorov school, salutes his grandfather. Everyone knew this painting. It was printed on postcards that have sold 13 million copies. And Reshetnikov received the second Stalin Prize for his painting “For Peace!” — where children write the slogan Paix (“peace” in French) on the wall, while their parents, who had come to the rally, are being dispersed by the police.

We list the successes in easel painting, but experts note that Reshetnikov was primarily a talented caricaturist, a virtuoso of cartoon. And this gift of his was in great demand in propaganda, political satire and internal war against formalism. It was Reshetnikov who attacked the artists of non-objective painting in his cycle “Secrets of Abstract Art”. In his interpretation, even monkeys and donkeys could paint abstractions with their tails. Today we are faced with a pictorial caricature, a poster picture almost one and a half meters high. What do we see? A peace-loving Soviet Union grabs the hand of the capitalist warmongers — the American militarists and their supporting capital. Everything as usual. In political rhetoric, we have entered the second round.

CONTEMPORARY ART

GINTOVT Alexey Yurievich (1965) Supernova Moscow. Cathedral Square. 2021. MDF, acrylic, author's print. 100 × 89. Edition 1/5

This meter-height work weighs about ten kilograms, despite the fact that it is a circulation graphics. To be exact, it's a small edition. The first of five copies. This is Gintovt's new technology — author's printing on MDF. The main thing is the idea. And the concept here is quite readable. In front of us is the Supernova Moscow of the future as the capital of all religions. There is an Orthodox church in the foreground, and Buddhist, Muslim and even some alien religious objects go into the horizon. Peaceful neighborhood. Quiet grace. Red paint, golden background, massive hard base. New Gintovt for new collections.