RUSSIAN ABROAD

LAPCHINE Georgy Alexandrovich (1885–1950) A boat trip. 1930–1940s. Canvas, oil. 60 × 80.2

Georges Lapchine. He is Georgy Alexandrovich. Before us is a masterpiece of impressionism. Special light-air environment. Characters captured in motion. “Frame” — fixing the moment. Everything is subtle, masterly. Everything is good. Today it is funny to remember that the word “impressionism” was originally born as an element of sarcasm, derogatory criticism, verbal neglect. The journalist Leroy in his feuilleton called the artists of the Salon des Refusés “impressed”, hinting at their superficiality, lack of elaboration of details, carelessness and lack of ideas. But years passed and Impressionism became a cultural brand in France, recognized as the most valuable direction in art. “Careless” Monet, Renoir and Manet entered the top of the most expensive artists in the world. Well, the critic Louis Leroy is remembered for the fact that he gave the world the word “impressionism”.

Georgy Lapchine emigrated from Russia in 1922. Exhibited at the Salon of the Independent, worked as a theater artist. And he even sang tenor roles at the Russian Opera in Paris. Lapchine is widely represented on the market by compact landscapes. And works of this size are rare. The auction record for the artist's work is $ 170,000. It was set at Sotheby's at the peak of the Russian art market in 2009.

“A boat trip” has the expert opinion of the Grabar center, made by Irina Gerashchenko.

ARTISTS & MUSIC

Yes, colleagues, it's time to introduce a separate heading. Too often we have begun to talk about parallels, connections and intersections of the visual and musical arts. So this time, three works of our 39th auction at once are associated with the musical avant-garde of the XX century.

SITNIKOV Alexander Grigorievich (1945) Concerto No. 1. Shostakovich. 1996–2008. Tempera, oil on canvas. 130 × 130

Alexander Sitnikov's painting is dedicated to Concerto No. 1 for violin and orchestra, written by the winner of five Stalin prizes and the author of the famous seventh “Leningrad” symphony, Dmitry Shostakovich. This concert was written in 1948 — during one of the darkest periods in the composer's life, a year when he faced harassment and repression. The concert was first performed only 7 years later. It is believed that the concert's drama is built on the idea of overcoming the conflict and the need to resist the circumstances under which the author was under pressure.

Shostakovich is a world famous composer, a symbol of Russian culture of the 20th century. In 1942, his Seventh Symphony — a symbol of the fighting Leningrad — was performed even in the United States, and his portrait during the war years was printed by Americans on the cover of Time.

But in the USSR, talent did not guarantee protection from absurd accusations. In 1948, with the sanction of Zhdanov, the meager zealous opportunists accused Shostakovich of groveling before the West, formalism, and bourgeois decadence. Fired from conservatories, deprived of the title of professor. Once one of the favorites of the competition for the anthem of the USSR was accused of incompetence. They didn't shoot right away — and thanks for that. By the way, this was not the first time the Chekists terrorized Shostakovich. There is evidence that in the late 1930s the composer slept with a suitcase by his bed. Every night he waited for his arrest, which has already happened to his friend Meyerhold and other colleagues. But nothing happened. In 1949, Stalin again needed Shostakovich as a famous man in the West for the needs of cultural diplomacy. And the leader corrected the “excess” — he returned the title and the opportunity to work for the composer. During the Khrushchev Thaw, Shostakovich became the head of the Composers' Union. Shostakovich's music sounds not only in concert halls, but is also used in modern cinema. Themes from his works are heard in the films Eyes Wide Shut (a scandalous film with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman), Nymphomaniac, Batman v Superman, Children of Men and others. Shostakovich himself did not like to write music for films, but sometimes he made an exception. In particular, his music can be heard in the legendary films by Kozintsev “Hamlet” and “King Lear”.

YANKILEVSKY Vladimir Borisovich (1938–2018) Sketch for triptych No. 11 “Moments of Eternity”. 1971. Pencil on paper. 13.5 × 43.3 cm.

A small graphic work by Vladimir Yankilevsky is a sketch for his gigantic triptych No. 11 “Moments of Eternity” of 1974, which is in the Russian Museum. Triptychs are one of the most important conceptual formats in the work of one of the main innovators in unofficial art. Let me remind you that the left side in them usually symbolizes the female humanistic principle. The right one is masculine, a metaphor for dynamics and search. And in the middle is the universe, space, dialogue. It would seem, what does music have to do with that?

And the fact is that triptych number 11 “Moments of Eternity” is dedicated to the pianist and composer-innovator Alexander Rabinovich-Barakovsky. Yankilevsky finished the triptych in 1974 — the year the musician emigrated. In the USSR, Rabinovich-Barakovsky remained incomprehensible. Tikhon Khrennikov, after a long conversation, refused to accept him into the composers' union. Rabinovich was the first in the USSR to perform the cycle of piano pieces by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, “Twenty gazes upon the child Jesus”, which was banned in the Soviet Union. He found a copy of the sheet music in the Lenin Library, rewrote them and subsequently played from memory. How did he do it? The concert at the Gnessin Institute was “dragged in” by writing on the poster “Olivier Messiaen. 20 gazes”. Without mentioning child Jesus. According to the composer's recollections, many intellectuals came to him not from the musical environment. People eagerly caught any breath of fresh air. I don't know if Yankilevsky was at that concert, but the performance took place in 1971, at the same time when this sketch of the triptych was made. I know for sure that Yankilevsky not only loved music, but felt it very subtly. He knew, understood and appreciated the musical avant-garde. Especially Schnittke, it seems to me. We showed the drawing for “Moments of Eternity” in advance to Rimma Solod-Yankilevskaya, a companion and widow of Vladimir Borisovich. She attributed and confirmed it.

LÉGER (Khodasevich) Nadia (1904–1982) Shostakovich. Cardboard, gouache, author's technique. 35 × 32 (light)

And... one more Shostakovich. From the artist of the Russian diaspora, a native of Belarus, Nadia Khodasevich. Married Léger. Yes, she is the wife of the same artist Fernand Léger. Communist and modernist. In the late 1910s, Nadia Léger studied at the Smolensk branch of UNOVIS, which was supervised by Malevich. Then Warsaw, then Paris. She was friends with Braque and Picasso, participated in resonant Parisian exhibitions. During the war, Nadia Léger was a member of the Resistance, an underground worker, a member of the Union of Soviet Patriots. She sympathized with the USSR and came to her former homeland more than once after the war. She was friends with Furtseva. She arranged exhibitions, did a lot for Russian-French friendship. In 1972, she was even awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The history of the presented portrait is connected with one of her visits to the USSR. Look at this mosaic in Dubna near Moscow. Do you recognize? Yes, apparently, we have a draft of that work before us. In 1974, Nadia Léger presented the USSR with a whole series of mosaics with famous figures of politics, culture and science. She originally made them for her 1972 solo exhibition. Tolstoy, Mayakovsky and, of course, composers. In particular, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

KRACHKOVSKY Iosif Evstafievich (1854–1914) Landscape with a river and boats. 1890s. Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard. 45.1 × 67.5

Quite a large picture of a prominent representative of Russian landscape painting at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Iosif Krachkovsky is a favorite of collectors of Russian classics. He is a student of Mikhail Klodt, a gold medalist of the Academy of Arts. And again the intersection with music. Krachkovsky did not immediately decide whether to become a composer or an artist. He studied at the conservatory. But painting won.

Krachkovsky was considered one of the most poetic landscape painters of his time. The talented graduate was sent to Europe to gain inspiration. For the works brought from his trips, he was awarded the title of academician. Krachkovsky was commissioned by representatives of the Russian nobility and members of the imperial family. Several works from the 1902 exhibition were acquired by Nicholas II. Among the customers and buyers of Krachkovsky were many European collectors.

Expert opinion of the Scientific Research Expertise named after P. M. Tretyakov. Expert art critic: Galina Sergeevna Churak. Expert-technologist: Lidia Ivanovna Gladkova.

VLADIMIR SCHOOL

BRITOV Kim Nikolaevich (1925–2010) Landscape. 1971. Oil on cardboard. 50 × 63

The most famous artist of the Vladimir school. Comfortable medium size, rather big, but not full wall. Good quality and great price. On the back there is a dedication from Kim Britov. The picture, of course, was seen by an expert on the artists of the Vladimir school, Nadezhda Sevastyanova. There is her verbal confirmation. And we remind you that we recommend buyers to issue all verbally confirmed works with a written examination. And of course, we will help with organizational issues.