TOP LOTS

BURLIUK David Davidovich (1882–1967) Flowers on the shore. 1950–1960s. Oil on cardboard. 71.3 × 55.7

Gorgeous, large Burliuk. Pastose painting, voluminous, bright. It seems to light up the room. Russian Art Nouveau on a good mood. The 1950s are already a deep American period, a burst of energy and inspiration after a trip to Europe, a meeting with the friends of his youth, Larionov and Goncharova, excursions to Van Gogh's places. Burliuk of this period is very recognizable, distinctive. His paintings are in great demand among collectors. Recall that David Burliuk is the father of Russian futurism, an artist of the Russian avant-garde. At the beginning of the century they, together with their friend Mayakovsky, slapped in the face public taste: they walked around with painted faces, with a spoon in their buttonhole, and they shocked the public. There is evidence that it was Burliuk who persuaded the shy Mayakovsky not to hide his poems and concentrate on poetry. Then fate dispersed them. Burliuk emigrated from Russia and settled in America. The authenticity of the work is confirmed by the expert opinion of Julia Rybakova.

SHULZHENKO Vasily Vladimirovich (1949) Race. 2011. Oil on canvas. 85 × 126

One of the best paintings at our auction. A positive Shulzhenko, which no artificial intelligence or art critic in civilian clothes would ban for censorship reasons. It seems to be all the same thoughts, reprehensible. But there's nothing to pick on.

The plot is fantastic. The entertainment of a coastal village. Rugged men on boats racing against each other. Whose motor is more powerful? Whose boat can cut a wave better? Let's bet on it!

Space, size, craftsmanship, and the trademark cigarette light just shines. There is simply everything. An unquestionable creative success and without a doubt a museum level.

1960s UNOFFICIAL ART

ZELENINE Edouard Leonidovitch (1938–2002) From the series “Heads”. Dedication to Oleg Tselkov. 1986–1989. Oil on canvas. 112 × 90

This painting is published in the 2007 monograph “Edouard Zelenine” on page 240. We share the opinion that this piece is from a cycle inspired by and dedicated to another 1960s artist, Oleg Tselkov. Zelenine and Tselkov communicated a lot in France, they were friends, many of their photographs together have survived. And of course, an art lover will immediately see in Zelenine's “Head” a reference to Tselkov's muzzle-faces. But the solution is quite different. The displacement of volumes, cubistic deconstruction, compensated with a soft symbolist style.

Zelenine is an artist of tragic fate. He came to Moscow from Novokuznetsk, joined the ranks of artists of unofficial art, exhibited in the “Blue Bird” cafe. In 1974, on his own initiative, Zelenine brought his painting to the wasteland of Belyaevo for an unauthorized exhibition, which went down in history as the “Bulldozer” exhibition. He soon took part in the Izmailovo exhibition, the results of which “earned” him a scathing boorish “review” in the “Evening Moscow”. In 1976 Zelenine left for France. His paintings were exhibited in European galleries, and his works were brought to the United States by Alexander Glezer as part of the exhibitions of the Museum of Russian Contemporary Art in Exile. In 1988, after the beginning of Perestroika, Zelenine had a personal exhibition in his native town Novokuznetsk, and “The USSR Post” issued a stamp with his picture “Lady in a Hat”. Then came the dashing 1990s. Exhibitions became few and far between, and the artist Zelenine might have thought that his career was on the decline. He died in 2002, at the age of 64. His friend, artist Valentin Vorobyov, wrote that Zelenine took a lethal dose of sleeping pills. And eight years later, Sotheby's set a price record for the artist's work. His “Leda and the Swan” was sold for $ 45,000.

ZVEREV Anatoly Timofeevich (1931–1986) Portrait of a Woman with Blue Eyes. 1980. Watercolor, scratching on paper. 53.5 × 42

There is an opinion that Zverev portrayed Natalia Shmelkova, the muse of the 1960s artists, the keeper of their memory and compiler of the collection “Anatoly Zverev in Memoirs of Contemporaries”. In 1980, she was 38 years old. However, there is no authentic reference to the name of the model, so in the examination the work is called neutrally: “Portrait of a Woman with Blue Eyes”.

The 1980s are considered to be the period of the “late Zverev”, when inspiration began to visit him less frequently. But this work is undoubtedly among his creative successes — it is multifaceted, inspired, and expressive. It is an exemplary piece of the Zverev portrait genre.

GROSITSKY Andrey Borisovich (1934–2017) The Shard. 1997. Oil on canvas. 90 × 60

An inspired rondo in the collection of “poetry of things” by the outstanding 1960s artist Andrey Grositsky. “The Shard” is a vanitas, a reflection on the frailty of the world, a reminder of the fragility of life through the fate of a seemingly soulless object. An exemplary piece by Grositsky. Jewel of the collection. A metaphysician of the object world, Andrey Grositsky was an artist of the orbit of unofficial art. He exhibited at a high-profile exhibition at the VDNKh Palace of Culture in 1975, and after the opening of the hall on Malaya Gruzinskaya, he became a regular participant of the “City Committee” exhibitions.

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

ISUPOV Alexey Vladimirovich (1889–1957) Rural gathering in winter. 1930–1940s. Oil on canvas. 59 × 74

Alexey, or as he signed “Alessio” Isupov with the expertise of Irina Gerashchenko on the letterhead of the Repin Center. An example of his favorite hippic genre, from the Greek word hippos (horse). Alexey Isupov painted Russian genre scenes already in Italy, where he went for treatment after the Revolution. He painted scenes of Russian life in accordance with his recollections and old sketches, made in his homeland. A participant in itinerant exhibitions, a member of the Association of Revolutionary Artists of Russia, Isupov is said to have shunned anti-Soviet emigration. His departure was precisely due to the need for medical treatment rather than ideological confrontation. In his will, he asked that his paintings be transferred to Russia, to museums in Moscow and his native Vyatka. The artist's widow carried out his will. Paintings by the student of Korovin and Apollinary Vasnetsov joined the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Kirov Museum, still not renamed back to Vyatka.

MURAVYOV Vladimir Leonidovich (1861–1940) Elk in the woods. 1930s. Oil on canvas. 50.2 × 65.5

Elk against the background of the forest is a favorite and most recognizable theme in the work of Count Muravyov, the husband of the actress Vera Komissarzhevskaya. Having refused to study in the Corps of Pages, Muravyev enters the Academy of Arts, in the painting class of Klodt and Klever. He exhibited with the St. Petersburg Society of Artists and at exhibitions of the Society of Watercolorists. His paintings were printed in magazines and reproduced on postcards. He did not emigrate after the revolution. He worked in the south of Russia as a theater artist. The authenticity of the picture was confirmed by the expertise of the P. M. Tretyakov Independent Art Research & Expertise.

SUDEIKIN Sergey Yurievich (1882–1946) Sketch of a costume with an embroidery frame. 1920s. Gouache, pencil on paper. 23.9 × 19

Sergey Sudeikin is an artist of the Blue Rose and the World of Art. He worked a lot as a theater artist. In particular, he made productions for the Vera Komissarzhevskaya Theater. In the 1920s, Sudeikin emigrated, worked on ballets by Stravinsky, was involved as an artist for Hollywood films. The work is accompanied by an expert opinion of the P. M. Tretyakov Independent Art Research & Expertise. Experts: O. S. Glebova, E. M. Ponomarenko.

CONTEMPORARY ART

LATYSHEV Konstantin Eduardovich (1966) Two abstract conceptualists in caps are waiting for the call... 2006. Canvas, print, author's technique. 95 × 150

This is a sectoral theme. Latyshev's charade is easily unraveled by anyone involved in the artistic process of the 1990–2000s. The passing era of omnipotent curators. Viktor Misiano. Joseph Bakstein. Too much in those days depended on criticism, appraisal and the favor of influential people: careers, publications, exhibitions, opportunities. It was a time of authority that ended with the advent of the Internet age.

In the late 1980s, Konstantin Latyshev was a member of the group “World Champions” along with Konstantin Zvezdochetov, Giya Abramishvili, Boris Matrosov and others. He is characterized by a ruthlessly sarcastic style, boldness, poster brevity, accurate fixation of the problems of the era. The famous meme “Do you, bitch, love contemporary art the way I love it?” was originally his work. Konstantin Latyshev's paintings are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Georges Pompidou Center, in the collections of Catherine and Vladimir Semenikhin, Peter Aven, Shalva Breus and others.

MEDVEDEVA Katya (1937) Ballet fragments. 2010. Oil on canvas. 80 × 80

Katya Medvedeva is a self-taught artist. Her first exhibition was held in 1976 at the Trade Workers' Club, where she was listed. The artist was 39 years old. And today she is the face of Russian naive art (primitivism, naive expressionism). We highly recommend that you take a closer look at this painting, both the plot and the execution. At one time, caring people helped her to get backstage, so she could see and remember the movements of ballerinas on stage. And now it is the theme of ballet that is considered extremely valuable in the work of Katya Medvedeva.