A large-scale two-meter canvas by Valery Koshlyakov is devoted this time not to distant ancient ruins, but to a part of Moscow's history and the “vanishing beauty” of an iconic place on the map of the capital. Which is a rarity in itself. The artist's favorite theme is a conversation about the loss of classical culture, the elusive beauty and the ruthlessness of time. Valery Koshlyakov is one of the top 20 most expensive living Russian artists and the top 5 artists of contemporary art.

Works of the inventor of “panic realism” can be very different in their technical complexity. Some “quick” graphics works are done very succinctly, literally in a single pass. Technical stinginess is also characteristic of many paintings by Petr Belenok. But that is not the case today.

One of the most beautiful works of the series “Don Quixote” by Anatoly Zverev. And of course, one of the most polysemantic and long-suffering subjects of the “Russian Picasso”. Collectors have heard more than once, that the “knight of the rueful countenance” is the alter ego of Zverev himself. The artist deeply felt and experienced the insecurity described by Cervantes, the ridicule and hostility of pragmatic society to which sincere dreamers are condemned.

Why did Nikolina Gora become such a place of power in Zverev's work? Oksana Aseeva had a dacha in this picturesque village near Moscow. She was a widow of the poet Nikolay Aseev, a friend of Mayakovsky. A woman of progressive views, she was the “muse of Russian futurism”. But today we often think of her as the muse of Anatoly Zverev. Zverev loved to visit Nikolina Gora, lived in pleasant company and worked with pleasure.

The play of natureless structures in space. Biomorphic cosmism. Artist 100% recognizable. Bright, expressive, innovative. Whoever sees it for the first time will never guess that these bright cosmic spots are sublimated impressions of explosions, which the artist saw in the war. Today Nikolay Vechtomov is one of the most sought-after artists among collectors, and his works regularly become auction hits.

The master of metaphysical still life, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, is today one of the most expensive artists of unofficial art. His auction record at the peak of the market was almost a million dollars. The philosophical basis of Krasnopevtsev's metaphysical still lifes is the idea of the frailty of the world and the desire for natural harmony, embodied in the equilibrium without symmetry.

The 1960s artist from the clip of the first names of unofficial post-war art. Master of Structural Symbolism. Plavinsky was inspired by the achievements of ancient cultures, their symbols and signs. He traveled a lot in the USSR since the late 1950s, walked half the country, studied historical monuments and artifacts of the past. And, admittedly, our big country gave him enough material for difficult experiences. The Russian North was already a land of ruined churches, dilapidated huts and devastation. But what struck fear in an unprepared traveler sometimes became a source of strong emotions for a cosmist and a born artist-researcher.