MASTERPIECES

CHEMIAKINE Mikhail Mikhailovich (1943) Birds. Two watercolors from the series “Angels of Death”. 1993. Watercolor and ink on paper. 77.1 × 57, 76.3 × 56.5

We racked our brains hard — is it worth pronouncing the real name or confining ourselves to the second option, which is indicated in the examination? The papers say “Birds”. We thought about it and decided — let it be as it is. This tough psychological and mystical cycle by Mikhail Chemiakine is called “Angels of Death”. A series of watercolors of the same name was exhibited at the Hermitage in 1995. The exhibition catalog is still available on the website of the Chemiakine Foundation. A powerful expressionist cycle: overcoming nightmares, desacralization of the world of shadows, photo-reportage from the depths the subconscious. The authenticity of the works is confirmed by the Chemiakine Foundation and expertise of the Tretyakov Institute of Fine Arts.

Mikhail Chemiakine is one of the most famous Russian artists in the world. He was persecuted in the USSR: his exhibitions were banned and he was sent for compulsory treatment. In 1971, Chemiakine emigrated and was deprived of Soviet citizenship.

BELENOK Petr Ivanovich (1938–1991) The Elementalist. 1990. Hardboard, mixed media. 115 × 85

More than a meter size hardboard. The textured workmanship. This is probably the most spectacular work by Petr Belenok of those we have sold. The title on the back is “The Elementalist”.

The author is an artist of the sixties, the developer of his own philosophical concept of panic realism. At its core — the conflict of the aggressive environment and the man suppressed by it — a kind of allegory of the Soviet world order. And Belenok knew it firsthand. At one time, he gave up a reliable career as a “nomenclature” sculptor in the provinces. He gave up sculpting busts of leaders for local houses of culture. And went to Moscow to do what he really had to and wanted. Today the prices of his paintings are approaching the million mark. But in the 1970s and 1980s, he lived in poverty, often on the verge of misery. However, there is another side to it. Thanks to that difficult choice, Belenok firmly entered the history of national art, became one of the main figures of non-conformism.

1960s UOFFICIAL ART

LEONOV Pavel Petrovich (1920–2011) Grown son. 1990s. Canvas, oil. 74 × 91

A very good, balanced and characteristic work by one of the main artists of Russian primitivism. Pavel Leonov went through the war and the camps. All his life in hard work. He began to paint at a very advanced age, after fifty. His correspondence teacher at the correspondence institute was Mikhail Roginsky. And the recognition came to him quite at the end of his life. Experts and art connoisseurs were surprised by his naive manner and warm fantasy subjects. In fact, Leonov drew an imaginary world — a fairy tale. Not the one that surrounded him, but a reasonable world. Where everything is intelligent. Where people build, work with light and beautifully rest. The painting “Grown son” is just about that. Holiday, the harmonica, all is well. Inspirational Leonov. Museum level. Highly recommended.

GRIGORIEV Alexander Efimovich (1949) Composition. Diptych. 1969–2000. Tempera on paper. 40 × 40

Sixty years ago, Alexander Grigoriev was a member of the famous group “Movement”, an associate of Lev Nusberg and Vyacheslav Koleichuk. Kinetic culture was a breakthrough phenomenon and a real irritant to the influential socialist realism lobby. People not only had talent, but also a great deal of courage. There was a case when Nusberg barricaded the Manege in Moscow, prevented the destruction of the exhibition, and did not let the police and fire brigade in. In the USSR! He stood up until Furtseva arrived. And in the end he won — he defended the exhibition, did not let the nomenklatura autocrats break the project.

Alexander Efimovich Grigoriev joined the group “Movement” in 1967, when he worked at the Research Institute of Experimental Architectural Design. He began working on collective projects and making his own abstract-geometric painting. The diptych, which is on sale today, is a return to those times, to those ideas. Before us is the author's repetition of the 1969 diptych, made 40 years later.

ZVEREV Anatoly Timofeevich (1931–1986) Portrait of Oksana Aseeva. 1974. Oil on cardboard. 51 × 35

Oksana Aseeva was the widow of the poet Nikolay Aseev, a friend of Mayakovsky. The beauty from her youth revolved in the circle of futurists, broke many hearts (including the heart of Velimir Khlebnikov). She is known for a considerable number of extravagant acts. It is remembered that in the 1920s, she and her sisters and a friend went completely naked on Gogolevsky Boulevard on a picket for the freedom of manners. In this form, The 30-year-old beauties strolled along the boulevard like this, and then got on the tram. She was a wild thing, all in all. But she was remembered not for that, but for the fact that in her later years she became the muse of Anatoly Zverev. He was introduced to the “old woman” by Plavinsky in the late 1960s. It was by chance — friends tipsy decided to visit the widow of the poet of the Silver Age. Zverev was not even forty, and Oksana Aseeva — over seventy. It was a strange relationship. With scandals, debauches, loud arguments, jealousy scenes. Zverev not once was taken to the clink at the attempt to break into her apartment. But it was Aseeva he devoted dozens of touching letters, and, of course, hundreds of paintings and drawings. Portraits of Oksana Mikhailovna by David Shterenberg are said to have been gradually ousted from her apartment by portraits painted by Anatoly Timofeevich. Her last portrait he painted on the day of the funeral of his muse in 1985. A year later he himself was gone.

RUSSIAN ABROAD

BARANOFF-ROSSINÉ Wladimir Davidovich (1888–1944) Landscape with a house and trees. Around 1927. Oil on canvas. 50 × 73.2

Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné, an artist of the School of Paris, was born in Odessa. He participated in the first exhibitions of the Russian avant-garde “Stefanos” and “Wreath-Stefanos” in 1907–1910 together with Burliuk, Larionov, Goncharova and others. In the early 1910s, he settled in the Parisian “La Ruche”. He was friends with Modigliani, Chagall, Archipenko, Robert Delaunay. After the Russian Revolution, Baranoff returned to Petrograd and taught at VKHUTEMAS. But in 1925 he left for France again. There he continued his experiments and research on the nature and color combinations. He patented the previously invented optophone device — the prototype of light-music machines.

Baranoff was a talented inventor. He is believed to have invented the chromophotometer — a device for assessing the quality of precious stones. And in the late 1930s, Baranoff invented and patented a method of protective coloration to reduce the visibility of objects — the same camouflage that was soon very useful to the military.

Wladimir Baranoff-Rossiné — Shulim Wolf Leib Baranov — was killed in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. His paintings are sold today at the leading auctions in the world. At the peak of the market, in 2008, his three-meter painting was sold at Christie's for $ 5 million.

The authenticity of the exhibited canvas “Landscape with a house and trees” is confirmed by the expertise of the Repin Center, expert — T. M. Levina.

TARKHOV Nikolay Alexandrovich (1871–1930) Bouquet of Thistles. 1910–1920s. Watercolor on paper mounted on cardboard. 39.8 × 26.6

The participant of exhibitions of the “World of Art” and the “Union of Russian Artists” was highly appreciated by Makovsky and even by Alexander Benois, harsh on words. In Paris, Tarkhov was on the verge of a dizzyingly successful career — he was promoted by the influential Marchand Ambroise Vollard (who helped Cézanne, Picasso and many other future stars). With his encouragement there were successful exhibitions and sales. But suddenly they had a falling out. As they say, over money. What happened next is cited today as a shining example of the brutality of manners in the art market. Vollard used all his influence to destroy the market for Tarkhov's work and career. The artist faced a virtual commercial boycott, his business declined, and he eventually died in poverty. Vollard's vengeance, however, did not stop Tarkhov from being Tarkhov. The quality, the class, the level, all remained. Charming “Bouquet of Thistles” at our auction is part of the famous Tarkhov series, and its authenticity is confirmed by the expert opinion of the Repin Center (expert — O. S. Glebova).

BURLIUK David Davidovich (1882–1967) French Riviera. 1949. Paper, black pencil, watercolor, whitewash. 28.2 × 38

In conclusion, a charming view of the French Riviera by the father of Russian futurism, David Burliuk. His impression from his trip to Europe. The watercolor is signed and accompanied by the expertise of Valery Silaev.