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Video: How much is Petrov-Vodkin: Paintings of the artist who broke the records of "Russian auction sales"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Well, here the paintings of the artists of the Soviet era waited for their finest hour - they began to be quoted on the world art market and at the same time went under the hammer for very solid money. Today we will talk about the work of the famous master of painting, art theorist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkina. June 3 in London at the auction house Christie's was sold "Still Life with Lilacs" (1928) for a record amount for "Russian auction sales" of almost 12 million dollars.
I do not presume to assert that the artist was one hundred percent socialist realist, but after the revolution he very successfully adapted his work to Soviet realities. Kuzma Sergeevich was a unique artist who worked at the junction of two eras, his contemporaries called him "an ancient Russian icon painter who, by chance, fell into the future." And is it really so, judge for yourself. Inventor, adventurer, prophet and "talent" Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin: 10 most interesting facts from the life of an artist.
Sensational result of the auction of Russian art Christie's
This event unexpectedly changed the rating of the most expensive "Russian auction sales". In the first place is still Malevich, who is considered the "artist of the world", with "Suprematist Composition" for $ 85.8 million, but the second was Petrov-Vodkin. But if we consider that Malevich's painting was sold as part of the Impressionists and Modernists auction, then Kuzma Sergeevich is now rightly considered the absolute leader of the Russian auction - 9, 286 million pounds. He overtook Valentin Serov, whose result was - 9, 266 million pounds; Nicholas Roerich - 7, 9 million pounds; Natalia Goncharov - £ 6.4 million and Ilya Repin - £ 4.5 million.
"Still Life with Lilacs" by Petrov-Vodkin entered the Russian department of Christie's from the descendants of the Italian art critic and collector Giovanni Scheuwiller, "a great friend of the Soviet Union." Back in 1932, at the 18th Venice Biennale, he helped with the improvement of the exhibition pavilion for the exhibits exhibited from the country of the Soviets. At the end of the Biennale, the still life with several other works by Soviet masters was exchanged for works by Italian contemporaries. Thus, he ended up in the collection of the Italian, where it was kept until now. By the way, Shaviller's heirs did not even know that the painting could cost so much.
Since 1932, the canvas has not been shown to the public, and after 87 years, it was first seen by Moscow viewers, who had the rare opportunity to contemplate an outstanding still life by the great Russian artist before it was presented at the auction as a lot. Observing the rules of the auction, in the middle of May this year, "Still Life with Lilacs" was exhibited at the pre-auction exhibition in Moscow at the Christie's office.
After a thorough examination of the painting by Christie's specialists, a second date was found in the corner of the canvas, and an inverted one. This find immediately prompted the idea that the artist took an already used canvas to create a still life. And when examining it in infrared radiation, it was discovered that under the still life there is another work of the master - the unfinished "Madonna and Child". By the way, it also turned out that there is a very high probability that the preparatory drawing, made in 1925, was preserved in one private collection.
The press service of the Christie's trading house also did not stand aside, which noted that “… this picture amazes the viewer with its daring use of rich pure colors, optical techniques and, above all, an innovative approach to perspective, which won Petrov-Vodkin the fame of one of the leading masters of Russian and world art of the twentieth century”.
According to the initial expert assessment, this painting was estimated at approximately 1.2 million pounds (1.5 million dollars), but the selling price offered by the buyer was almost 9.3 million pounds (nearly $ 12 million). The previous record for the painter's work was an auction in 2012 and stood at £ 2.3 million. It was for this price that the auction house MacDougall's sold the still life "Apples and Eggs" by the brilliant artist.
And it should be noted that the genre of still life in the work of Petrov-Vodkin was key. He created a whole gallery of unique works that entered the treasury of world art.
Read also: Who actually invented the faceted glass, and why "Granchak" was a favorite subject in Petrov-Vodkin's still lifes.
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