MASTERPIECES

YAKOVLEV Vladimir Igorevich (1934–1998) Lonely red flower. 1973. Gouache on paper. 86 × 61

Together with Zverev, he became a symbol of unofficial art. These are still two names that first come to mind: the rebellious Zverev and the quiet, soulful Yakovlev.

At the end of the expert report we see the unequivocal verdict of Valery Silayev — “has a museum value”. He does not often pronounce such a verdict. The signed, dated flower on a large sheet had been in the collection of Theodore Cheslavovich Tezhik, the production designer of the prophetic film “Kin-Dza-Dza!” for many years.

Before the sale, we advised the owners to preserve the condition of the work, as they say, "in time": with the existing tears, in the old frame, under the old plexiglass. Everything can be repaired there. But it is better to let the new owners decide on the degree of restoration needed. It is already clear that restoration work will not cost much. And where to go, we know and will tell you.

In general, such a Yakovlev is a real rarity. Big size. Especially valuable period.

An artist of a difficult fate. He spent many months in psychiatric institutions. Poorly saw, at the end of his life he almost completely lost his sight. But the sixties and seventies are the peak of the creative form of Vladimir Yakovlev.

NESTEROVA Natalia Igorevna (1944) Christmas. 2006. Oil on canvas. 100 × 100

Large, textured, expressive meter-sized canvas. Exemplary Nesterova. Museum level.

Natalia Nesterova is a student of Zhilinsky, an Amazon of the left Moscow Union of Artists. In the 1970s, she conquered the public with neo-primitivism so unusual for the Soviet audience. Today we have a picture on an eternal theme. The star of Bethlehem is burning in the sky. And on earth in a stable the newborn Jesus for the first time looks at the sinful world. However, there were some mysteries that the artist loves so much. If you look in the background, you can see two travelers leaning on canes. And all would be fine, but only the style of their clothes is not more than 100 years old. Not to mention two thousand. What is this metaphor? Time paradox? Or maybe something else? No simple answer is foreseen, this is Nesterova after all!

WEISBERG Vladimir Grigorievich (1924–1985) Two gray vases and a white bottle. 1970. Oil on canvas, 45 × 50

Signature dated Weisberg of the valuable period. Spectacular and recognizable. And expensive enough to eloquently indicate the level of the collection. No wonder Weisberg's auction record is $ 363,000.

Our classic still life by Vladimir Grigorievich contains all the coloristic techniques and the most important philosophical ideas of the Russian Morandi. And mastering the mystery of whiteness, and white without white, and the recreation of space through getting rid of everything superfluous. And great silence. Despite the seeming simplicity, Weisberg's paintings have a mystical energy. They are not unreasonably credited with the ability to have an almost psychic effect on the viewer. However, this effect should not be feared. The power of art never goes to harm.

1960s UNOFFICIAL ART

CHUIKOV Ivan Semyonovich (1935–2020) Point of view. A set of five plates. 2014. Porcelain, painting. Diameter 30.8 cm (each)

On the reverse of each plate there is the Villeroy&Boch factory mark, the signature ИвЧуйков and the print run number 11/30.

The 1960s artist Ivan Chuikov passed away two months ago, died in a hospital in Cologne from coronavirus. He belonged to the artists of the Sretensky group. He was an associate of Kabakov, Bulatov, Yankilevsky. In the evenings he listened to Voice of America together with Viktor Pivovarov. The son of two Stalin Prize winner Semyon Chuikov (the author of the painting “The Daughter of Soviet Kyrgyzstan”), he became one of the key figures in the intellectually anti-Soviet Moscow conceptualism.

Chuikov's calling card in art was the metaphor of the window. Our plates also have a window, although he made this ceramic project completely independent. This is especially noted by one of the people who helped him. Often sketches for porcelain by other sixties were made “based-on”. They took key themes and adapted them for plates. But Chuikov made the project from scratch — specifically for the porcelain format.

The certificate indicates a print run of 30 copies. It was very few. And that was according to plan. In fact, even fewer kits were made. Far less. So the future owner can be congratulated — this is doubly rare.

BELENOK Petr Ivanovich (1938–1991) Funnel over the field. 1988. Paper, ink, collage, author's technique. 60 × 93

Large, classic Belenok, in good condition, signed and at a very good price. Petr Belenok is a sixties artist, the inventor of mystical panic realism. Once a wealthy creator of busts of Lenin in the Ukraine, he became one of the main masters of Moscow's unofficial art. Paying a high price for creative freedom and a place in history. “Funnel over the field” is an exemplary work both to strengthen the collection and to launch a new collection.

NEMUKHIN Vladimir Nikolaevich (1925–2016) Spatial composition. 1998. Tinted wood. Height 24.5 cm

Before us is another rarity. Sculpture “Spatial Composition”, signed in 1998. Its original of 1997 is reproduced at number 19 in the catalog of the exhibition “Vladimir Nemukhin. Sculptures” (Moscow. Publishing house “Bonfi”. April 2010). Nemukhin’s wooden sculptures exist in several copies. Some more, some less. As the experts say, few of these were originally made. Literally only a few.

NEMUKHIN Vladimir Nikolaevich (1925–2016) Composition with a red circle. 2008. Canvas, acrylic, collage. 50 × 50

And as if in continuation of the rubric “The Worlds of Vladimir Nemukhin” — the strong painting of the artist of Lianozovo group. With his favorite red circle. In this circle, many see the impression of Malevich. But, according to those who knew Nemukhin, it was actually an impression of a picture from Russian classics. This is the Sun. Sunset by Clever or someone else.

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

VOLOSHIN Maximilian Alexandrovich (1878–1932) Cimmerian landscape. 1929. Watercolor on paper. 11.5 × 24.5

A freemason who shot with Gumilev for a woman. A poet who became an artist due to a boycott by booksellers for insulting Repin. Founder of the Cimmerian school of painting. A principled supporter of small format graphics “not for palaces”, but for ordinary people.

And this is all Maximilian Kirienko-Voloshin. Or just Voloshin, who signed with the monogram the MW.

His Cimmerian (that is, Crimean) landscapes often have a fantasy basis. They are not painted from life, but invented in the quiet of an office. Usually, Voloshin's watercolors-postcards had dedications and inscriptions. Our case is no exception. According to the owner, the inscription on the watercolor was made for Lyudmila Nikolaevna Novikova, who was a researcher at the Pushkin Museum and visited the Crimea for excavations. The work comes from the family of her heirs. The watercolor has verbal confirmation of the authenticity by Valery Silaev.

FORBIDDEN ART of the 2000s. FIRST NAMES

BLUE NOSES (Vyacheslav Mizin and Alexander Shaburov) Era of Mercy. 2004. Color photoprint. 90.5 × 75.5

Number in the print run: 1/10

The first layer of meaning is immediately apparent: the Russian artists did not hide that this is Banksy's homage — a re-arrangement of his scandalous graffiti “The Kissing Cops”. The mysterious Briton painted it on the wall of a Brighton pub, and a few days later his conceptual work exploded the media space.

The Russian version by Mizin and Shaburov also produced a bomb effect. A cultural and diplomatic scandal erupted because of it. The exhibition “Sots Art. Political art since 1972” was thwarted in Paris. The then Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov called the “Era of Mercy” pornography. And he used all his administrative influence to ensure that the works of “Blue Noses”, as well as Mamyshev-Monroe and others (86 works in total), did not get to the exhibition in France. So he said: “If the exhibition does get there, it will be the shame of Russia, for which we will have to take full responsibility”. The shame of Russia. Full responsibility. Oooh... a thousand devils!

How did it end? In 2006, some people tried to destroy Banksy's work by painting over it with black paint. After that, the image was dismantled along with part of the wall, taken to the States and sold at auction for 575,000 dollars.

The work by “Blue Noses” was taken privately abroad and sold at the FIAC fair in 2007 for $ 28,000.

Both works are inscribed in the history of world and national art. The same cannot be said about the initiators of that scandal. By the way, in addition to policemen, the cycle of Mizin and Shaburov also includes versions with kissing ballerinas, stackers and even soccer players.

Why “Era of Mercy”? Yes, this is a reference to the Weiner brothers' text, based on which the movie “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed” was filmed. This is a quote from an important dispute between Zheglov and his neighbor Michal Mikhalych, who believed in the triumph of kindness and wisdom:

— I am deeply convinced that crime in our country will be defeated not by punitive authorities, but by the natural course of our life. Philanthropy, mercy.

— Mercy is a priest's word. No, Mikhal Mikhalych, we, that is, the punitive authorities, will do away with the gangs.

— You are wrong, young people. Mercy is kindness and wisdom. This is the form of existence that I dream about, for which we all strive in the end. Maybe, who knows, now in poverty, scarcity, misery, deprivation, an epoch is dawning. Not even an epoch, an era of mercy. Precisely — the era of mercy!

And it is still a long way off! On the reverse side there is the author's inscription with the title, date, number in the circulation, as well as the signatures of the members of the group: “Blue Noses” (Slava Mizin, Alexander Shaburov). And note: in the print run of 10, this is number 1.

MAMYSHEV-MONROE Vladislav Yurievich (1969–2013) From the series “Lyubov Orlova”. 2001. Photoprint, photoassembly, author's technique. 66 × 72

Vladislav Mamyshev was named Monroe after Marilyn Monroe. The image of the American actress was one of the first in a series of his artistic transformations. In fact, Monroe used his own appearance instead of canvas and paints.

Lyubov Orlova was a cult Soviet actress, Stalin's favorite, and the leading actress in the films “Merry Fellows”, “Volga-Volga”, and “Circus”. She was called the Soviet Marlene Dietrich.

The work was conceived as part of the exhibition series “Happy Love” in 2000. The artist, reincarnated as an actress, creatively recreated her life path — from the late start of her career to her death. The last photo in the cycle is Orlova in her coffin.

The exhibition at the Gelman Gallery has become a significant cultural event. Reviews of 2000 are reprinted on the website of the Mamyshev-Monroe Foundation. One quote by Fedor Romer (a pseudonym of the critic Alexander Panov) is particularly memorable: “In a sense, Monroe is Anatoly Zverev, only of a new, acidic formation. When the interior author's originality gave way to gutta-percha and diversity. Image is everything, the thirst for self-expression is nothing: do not let yourself pour out. Mamyshev, too, has been Monroe, Christ, Buddha, Hitler, Catherine the Great, Napoleon, Lenin, Alyonushka and Ivan the Tsarevich in his photographic images for ten years. And today he became the Soviet movie star Lyubov Orlova”.

Mamyshev-Monroe passed away in 2013. Monroe died at 43, the same age as his teacher Timur Novikov. The artist was found lifeless in a pool in Bali.