PRIGOV Dmitry Alexandrovich (1940–2007) Head. Plaster, bronze paint. Height with pedestal 29 cm

“Dmitry Alexandrovich Prigov” — exactly so, with full patronymic — this is not just a name, but the name of a long-term art project, in the center of which stood this man-orchestra. Prigov is an avant-garde artist, a key figure in Moscow conceptualism, a poet, artist, sculptor and performance artist. In the summer of 2007, on the day when he had a heart attack, he was supposed to participate in the next performance. His followers from the group “War” were planning to put Prigov in a Soviet closet and take him up the stairs to the 22nd floor of the Moscow State University dormitory during the day to read his poems.

In the 1960s, Dmitry Prigov graduated from the sculpture department of the Stroganov School. In the 1970s, he gained limited fame as an unofficial poet. In the second half of the 1980s, Prigov was a member of the YoPS literary group (Erofeev, Prigov, Sorokin) and participated in exhibitions. Prigov of the 1990s is a conceptualist, a generator of ideas, the restless creator of the “movement”. He is a philosopher who formulated the concept of the “State-Militaner”, picked up by the group “War”. He died young, in his prime, at 66 years old.

The “Head” at our auction is the first time that Prigov’s sculpture appeared at Russian auctions. Who is depicted is a mystery that the new owner will solve. Confirmation of authenticity is a photo in which Prigov is depicted against the background of his sculptures, including the gypsum presented.

LEVITAN Isaac Ilyich (1860–1900) Evening. Fields. Etude. 1890s Oil on cardboard. 16.7 x 11.8

Name! The main singer of Russian nature. From childhood, we remember his masterpieces “Above Eternal Peace”, “Golden Autumn” and others. The teachers of Levitan were Perov, Savrasov and Polenov. He was very poor, and the school helped the teenager with money. After the assassination attempt on Alexander II, Levitan, like many Jews, was expelled from Moscow. And he lived for several years in Saltykovka — now the district of Balashikha. He graduated from an art school, but he was not given a diploma of the artist. Formally, he was listed as a teacher of calligraphy. However, this did not stop him from winning exhibitions, winning medals and getting good fees for his masterpieces. Levitan died before he was 40 years old.

Today Levitan is a very expensive artist whose masterpieces can cost millions of dollars. His auction record is 3.3 million dollars. But small works cost quite comfortable money, several hundred thousand rubles. On the back of a small study there is a confirmation inscription of the artist’s brother — people who know it know its meaning.

SHUBINA Galina Konstantinovna (1902–1980) First steps. 1930s Oil on cardboard, tempera. 72 x 51

Galina Shubina is a student of Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. In the 1920s, she was fascinated by expressive poster graphics, and in this segment she achieved serious recognition. Many Soviet posters (for example, the famous and relevant “Wash Your Hands”) that we saw in childhood belong to Shubina’s hand. In the painting “First Steps” one can feel the influence of another teacher of Galina Konstantinovna, Alexander Deineka. Work is sold with expertise.

NEMUKHIN Vladimir Nikolaevich (1931–2016) Tea set
and BORISOV Leonid Konstantinovich (1943–2013) Suprematist plate. 2010

Two artists of the second Russian avant-garde were inspired by the porcelain of the artists of the first Russian avant-garde — Suetin, Chashnik and other Malevich's associates. In addition to the fact that these things are spectacular, they are still quite inexpensive and available to a wide range of collectors.

Nemukhin needs no introduction. And Borisov, I recall, is a St. Petersburg nonconformist, a participant in the Gazanevsky culture. The authorship of Borisov is confirmed by a photograph of the artist with a plate from this cycle.

KALININ Vyacheslav Vasilievich (1939) Album “Etchings”
and IZMAILOV Evgeny Askerovich (1939) Album “Etchings”

Exclusive. Recently, we were the first of the auctions in Russia to sell (and sell) a rare album of etchings by Vyacheslav Kalinin. And here is the second one. Same? No. They differ. Not only the number (we now have number 14), but also the design of the booklet, at least. Or maybe there are still some differences. But the main thing is a series of signature etchings. The original signature in the booklet and other features that collectors will probably appreciate.

The album of etchings of another nonconformist artist — Evgeny Izmailov — is presented with us for the first time. He is an artist of the circle of Mikhail Roginsky, Boris Turetsky, also taught at the freethinking ZNUI — the correspondence people's university of arts. He participated in exhibitions of gorkom groups 20 and 21, was engaged in book illustration. Printed graphics — this is his real element, in this technique he appears as a masterly master. Therefore, the album of etchings is a godsend for collectors.

TITOV Vladimir (1950) Sonya. Newspaper, author's technique. 40 x 30

Brave, if not hooligan work. Although for Titov, hooliganism with an erotic connotation is very characteristic. Titov — a student at the home academy of Vasily Sitnikov (Vaska-Lamplighter). Only from branded Sitnikov’s decorativeness did he go in the exactly opposite direction — to the world of garbage dumps, tramps, marginals, inhabitants of the Gorky bottom. But without hopelessness. His stories are rather courageous. And with our work, the future owner will be completely lucky. Here is the frivolous Titov Light. Recognizable. Museum level. Not cheating on yourself. But remaining within the bounds of decency necessary for apartment hanging.