MASTERPIECES

BELENOK Petr Ivanovich (1938–1991) Whirlwind. 1980. Paper, hardboard, author's technique. 94 × 63

Belenok is a classic of disaster. Whirlwind. Panic realism. A lonely figure hiding behind a barrier. An anomaly hung in the air behind him. Anxious waiting for a denouement. The tension is growing and... This atmosphere is the main theme in the work of Petr Belenok. An artist of amazing fate. At the beginning of his creative career, he was a rather successful official sculptor in Ukraine. He made busts of Lenin for village councils. No end of work and endless stream of orders. Wealth in exchange for eternal provincialism. And he didn’t want to live like that. He preferred the freedom and independence of unofficial art instead of bureaucratic satiety. Who now remembers the sculptors of endless Lenin busts? But Belenok went down in history as one of the main artists of unofficial art.

SITNIKOV Alexander Grigorievich (1945) Instincts series. 1980. Tempera on canvas. 92 × 90

Alexander Sitnikov is a master of naive and ironic lyricism. In his works, mystical plots, myths, historical allusions are intertwined. The artist is bright, large-scale. In 1988, his work was sold at the first and only Sotheby's auction in Moscow. And later on international sites. At the peak of the market, in 2007–2008, the prices of his large paintings at world auctions reached $ 50,000–60,000. “Instincts” is almost a meter long canvas painted 40 years ago. Exemplary recognizable Sitnikov in his signature bright red. The work is published. It is in his catalog, published by WAM. Sitnikov's works are presented in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

BURLIUK David Davidovich (1882–1967) Street in Gloucester. 1930. Oil on canvas. 35.5 × 50.7

Connoisseurs will immediately pay attention to the name, size and year. A half-meter oil of the father of Russian futurism of a particularly valuable period — 1930. Very little time has passed since the moment Burliuk left Russia. Therefore, like Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the landscape is quite Russian, sprightly.

The authenticity of the work is confirmed by the expertise of J. V. Rybakova.

KROPIVNITSKY Evgeny Leonidovich (1893–1979) Going home after work. 1958. Mascara on paper. 34.5 × 45.5

Evgeny Kropivnitsky. Grandfather. One of the pillars of the Lianozovo group is a frequent participant in our trading. But earlier he was represented mainly by decorative female portraits and still lifes. They are good, but if it weren’t for the date, you won’t immediately determine the approximate time of writing. And here — bang — the era is immediately visible. Tired people, the same home, return from the shift, with the hateful work “from now to now”. Confirmation of Valery Silaev in the photo is attached to the work.

FOR THE FIRST TIME AT OUR AUCTION

POZDEEV Andrey Gennadievich (1926–1998) In the artist’s workshop. 1960. Oil on canvas. 120 × 130

True or not, they say that in Krasnoyarsk there are only two monuments to artists from this city: Vasily Surikov and Andrei Pozdeev. But it was the monument to Pozdeev that became the talisman of the townspeople — they rub it for happiness, for luck. This is similar to the tradition in Moscow, where they touch a sculpture at the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station for good luck.

Pozdeev was remembered by the townspeople as a kind man and an artist with a core, non-conformist in his soul. When everyone was forced to work for socialist realism (and without it, no exhibitions, no money), he retained independence in solving artistic problems. He had works both figurative and abstract, but never by someone’s order. For this he paid decades of non-recognition and poverty. It began to improve only when the artist was already under 70. The most important exhibition in the life of a Russian artist — in the Tretyakov Gallery — took place after his death, in 1999. In fact, self-taught (during the war there was no time for study), he was very demanding of himself. It is known that Pozdeev repeatedly destroyed his paintings, even large canvases, if he was not completely satisfied with the result. “In the artist’s workshop” is one of Pozdeev’s creative successes. This is a mood picture, able to “hold” a large room.

TSERM Petr Ivanovich (1829–1867) Heavenly blessing of the 25-year-old union of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna. 1866. Cardboard, pencil, watercolor. 31 × 39.8

The decoding of this allegorical plot takes three sheets of a thorough expert opinion. In addition to Emperor Alexander II and the Empress, Jesus Christ, John the Evangelist, High Priest Aaron, grateful people, angels and a two-headed eagle are present at the blessing. In the claws of the eagle are the most important decrees on the release of the peasantry, the abolition of corporal punishment and the introduction of new judicial statutes. In the upper left, another dramatic story unfolds: an angel wakes up and shows the way to the plowman. The expert suggests that this is an allegorical reminder of the commoner Osip Komissarov, who, by God's will, ended up in St. Petersburg on April 4, 1866 near the Summer Garden and foiled the attempt on the Emperor’s life. It is believed that the hatter Komissarov pushed the hand of the revolutionary Dmitry Karakozov. The Tzar was not injured. Karakozov was tortured and publicly hanged. And the hatter Komissarov was granted a noble title. After that, he became Komissarov of Kostroma.

According to the expert Olga Glebova, the work has undoubted museum and historical-cultural significance.

Peter Tserm is an artist whom experts know. But by its fame, it is inferior, for example, to Mikhail Zichy, whose signature once “adorned” this watercolor. The expert opinion has a special explanation in this regard. The son of a St. Petersburg hairdresser, without special starting conditions, Tserm, thanks to his talent, got into academicians of the Imperial Academy of Arts, won many awards. Experts say that he was an amazing draftsman from nature. He especially succeeded in portraits. The works of Petr Tserm are in the collection of the Russian Museum.