William Kentridge Lexicon (Flip Book) Lexicon is a facsimile cloth edition of an antiquarian Latin-Greek dictionary which William Kentridge has embellished with black ink drawings of what might seem at first to be animal silhouettes. In reproducing the work (which is uncollected elsewhere), this beautifully designed artists book mischievously pits the model of the flipbook against the fragility of the antiquarian original, and flipping its pages animates Kentridges lively, spiky drawings into a continuously morphing image that transforms from a cat to a coffee pot over the course of the books 160 pages. This image is based on a disintegrating sculpture that reflects the artists interest in the instability of objecthood. Lexiconis accompanied by a DVD containing a short film in which Kentridge flips the pages himself to display the morphing image of the cat often seen in Kentridges work. Hardback. Very, very slight bump on bottom edge, barely visible. Otherwise an As New, Fine copy. Fine ASAP 2011
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Medals – World War I Military Cross group of three comprising: Military Cross, British War Medal and Victory medal awarded to Captain Vivian Sumner Simpson, 12th Battalion York And Lancaster Regiment. Together with two good leather bound albums containing approximately ninety letters from Captain Simpson to is brother George, spanning his entire military service from 1914 to 1918, a printed biography and various other relevant letters, papers and photographs, his death plaque, paperwork relating to his Military cross etc Vivian Sumner Simpson was born at Beech House, Sheffield on 5th February 1883, the youngest of nine children born to local solicitor George Simpson and his wife Gertrude. He was educated at Wesley College, Sheffield before joining his father’s firm. Between 1900 and 1907 he made 38 appearances as an amateur for Sheffield Wednesday, scoring 38 goals, including a hat-trick in a 6-0 drubbing of Manchester United. When war broke out in August 1914 he was anxious to join up but did not care to enlist as a private except in a Battalion of men of his own ‘class’. Word of this reached the Duke of Norfolk and the result was the formation of the 12th (Sheffield) Service Battalion, York And Lancaster Regiment. Vivian was the first recruit on the roll of this battalion who after training in England left for the front in June 1916 taking part in The Battle of The Somme. He played a leading part in the attack on Cordorna Trench and as the London Gazette reported “He was the first man into the enemy trench and was involved in hand-to-hand combat with the defenders. Later he brilliantly organised the consolidation of the newly won position” for this he was awarded the Military Cross and mentioned in dispatches. In September 1917 he was wounded on reconnaissance duty in No Mans Land. He was invalided home and sent to Sunderland to train junior officers. This was work for which he had an aptitude and he was given chance to remain at home, far from the front line, but he preferred to rejoin his comrades at the front. On 13th April 1918 he was killed by a sniper in the village of Outtersteene whilst ‘moving amongst the men, cheering them up with his unquenchable optimism’. He was buried at Outtersteene, cemetery west of Lille, near the border with Belgium. Condition Report: Please see extra images. TELEPHONE department if you wish to talk through this lot - ** General condition consistent with age
![[Various Authors]. - FUR, FEATHER AND FIN SERIES, First Editions, 11 vol only of 12 (lacking Fox vol.), 1895-1905; Millais (J](http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/10129/2907473/16-2014522145332_468x382.jpg)
A VICTORIAN MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA PART DINNER SERVICE, painted and gilt in the Imari palette with an allover design of stylised flowers and foliage, impressed mark to the undersides, comprising: forty six dinner plates, 24.2cm diameter; twenty four soup plates, 24cm diameter; seventeen first course plates, 20.2cm diameter; eighteen side plates, 18.3cm diameter; canted rectangular meat drainer dish, 52.7cm wide; similar meat dish, 52.2cm wide; similar pair of meat dishes, 47.9cm wide; similar pair of meat dishes, 42.8cm wide; similar pair of meat dishes, 37cm wide; three similar meat dishes, 31.7cm wide; similar pair of meat dishes, 25.7cm wide; pierced meat drainer plate, 35cm wide; two-handled hexagonal soup tureen and cover, 33cm wide overall, 29cm high overall; soup tureen stand, 30cm wide overall; three hexagonal vegetable dishes and covers , 29.5cm wide, 18.5cm high overall; one additional vegetable dish cover, 26cm wide, 12cm high; two hexagonal sauce tureens 20.6cm wide, 10cm high; and three sauce tureen stands, 17cm wide (134). See illustration
A PAIR OF CONTINENTAL PORCELAIN FIGURES Circa 1900, JR monogram to base, of an elegant lady and gentleman; together with a Staffordshire type model of a sheep and lamb; a pair of blue ground vases with floral reserves; and a Continental blue and white figural spill vase, the first figures 28.5cm high (6)
GEORGE WILLIAM PILKINGTON (SOUTH AFRICAN 1879-1958) Congella, Durban Bay, etching, signed, titled and numbered 10/50 to the margin; together with another etching of Bishop`s Walk, Lambeth, signed in the plate with initials CEH and dated (18)92, Goupil Gallery label verso, the first 10 x 15cm (2)
![[MISCELLANEOUS] Christie, Agatha. Cat Among the Pigeons, first edition, The Crime Club by Collins, London, 1959, boards, dus](http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/10066/2907759/282-2014530123445_468x382.jpg)
[MISCELLANEOUS] Christie, Agatha. Cat Among the Pigeons, first edition, The Crime Club by Collins, London, 1959, boards, dustjacket, octavo; Robertson, Terence. Channel Dash. The Drama of Twenty-four Hours of War, first edition, Evans, London, 1958, boards, dustjacket, plate illustrations from photographs, octavo; and a further twenty-eight assorted works, (30).
![[MOTORING & MOTOR RACING] Eaton, Godfrey. Ferrari. The Road and Racing Cars, Haynes, Sparkford, 1983, boards, dustjacket](http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/10066/2907759/284-2014530123448_468x382.jpg)
[MOTORING & MOTOR RACING] Eaton, Godfrey. Ferrari. The Road and Racing Cars, Haynes, Sparkford, 1983, boards, dustjacket, colour and black and white illustrations, quarto; Posthumus, Cyril. The Roaring Twenties. An Album of Early Motor Racing, first edition, Blandford Press, Poole, 1980, boards, dustjacket, illustrations, quarto; Ludvigsen, Karl. Stirling Moss. Racing with the Maestro, reprint, Stephens, Sparkford, 1997, boards, dustjacket, illustrations throughout, INSCRIBED & SIGNED BY STIRLING MOSS, square quarto; and a further nine assorted works, (12).
Philip Alexius de László (Hungarian 1869-1936) Portrait of Mrs Veronique Nettlefold, known as The South African Nightingale Signed and dated 1931 Oil on canvas 101 x 75cm Mrs. Nettlefold or Vera de Villiers was a dramatic mezzo-soprano born in 1891 in Cape Town. Her career started after her first marriage in 1922 at the South African Eisteddfod, she then studied in England, married F. J. Nettlefold and sang with the London Symphony Orchestra in the Albert Hall in 1932. This led to concerts all over Europe and a sensational concert in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1933 Vera made her debut in America and then went on to become a soloist in London but after a trip to Russia with her future husband, Albert Coates, she moved towards opera and dramatic music. In 1946 the newly married couple moved to South Africa where they established the South African Opera and Ballet Group in Cape Town. Vera continued to sing after Albert`s death in 1953 and travelled to England to sing with the LSO in a concert in his memory in 1959.++Light stretcher mark centre, good condition
* KUPRIN, ALEXANDER (1880-1960) Twilight Landscape. Churuk-Su River, Bakhchisarai, signed. Oil on canvas, 89 by 125 cm. Executed c. 1927–1928. Provenance: Private collection, Turkey. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov. Exhibited:Vystavka kartin i skulptury obschestva moskovskikh khudozhnikov OMKh, Central Park of Culture and Leisure, Moscow, June 1929, No. 149. Shestaya vystavka “Krym i Kavkaz–zdravnitsy Rossii”, Exhibition Hall of the Moscow Union of Artists, Moscow, 1931. Khudozhniki RSFSR za XV let (1917–1932), State Historical Museum, Moscow, 1933, No. 412 or 414. XIXa Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, 1934, No. 30 (label on the reverse). Literature: Exhibition catalogue, Vystavka kartin i skulptury obschestva moskovskikh khudozhnikov OMKh, Moscow, 1929, p. 16, No. 149, listed as Semerechnyi [sic] peizazh. Khudozhniki RSFSR za XV let (1917–1932) Zhivopis’, Moscow, Vsekokhudozhnik, 1933, p. 20, No. 412 or 414. Exhibition catalogue, XIXa Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d’Arte, Venice, Carlo Ferrari, 1934, p. 320, No. 30, listed. V. Nikolsky, Aleksandr Vasilievich Kuprin, Moscow, Vsekokhudozhnik, 1935, p. 43, illustrated; p. 104, listed under works from 1928. Alexander Kuprin was a founding member of the Jack of Diamonds group at the start of the 20th century and one of the most prominent Soviet painters. He is represented here by this landmark canvas from his Crimean period, Twilight Landscape. Churuk-Su River, Bakhchisarai, which dates from late 1920s. Kuprin was a graduate of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, a student of Konstantins Yuon and Korovin, and one of the most passionate adepts of French avant-garde experiments. The artist paid his first visit to the Crimea in 1907, whence he wrote in a letter to his wife, Anastasia Polozantseva, that there is sufficient material here to last an artist for not one, but several lifetimes. However, it was not until the late 1920s, that Kuprin produced his best Crimean landscapes, characteristic for their inner harmony and expressive form. As the art critic Viktor Nikolsky wrote in his 1935 monograph on Kuprin, the artist made annual pilgrimages to Bakhchisarai from 1926 to 1930 and never tired of his artistic love-affair with this neglected corner of the Crimea. Kuprin’s landscapes of the time are remarkable for their expressiveness and freedom of brushwork. They show to best effect the artist’s skill in conveying a sense of volume and the rhythm of architectural forms. But while formalist experiments had previously taken centre stage in Kuprin’s work, the Bakhchisarai landscapes of the late 1920s reveal a deeply lyrical approach to their subject. Here, as never before, we can see how Kuprin was bewitched by the carefree atmosphere of what Nikolsky called this lazy, sleepy southern town. Twilight Landscape. Churuk-Su River. Bakhchisarai is the only work of Kuprin’s Bakhchisarai cycle to remain in private hands. The others have long been the pride of Russian museum collections: Bakhchisarai. Churuk-Su. Evening (1930) in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and Bakhchisarai. Churuk-Su. Noon (1927) hangs in the Russian Museum in St Petersburg.
* FALK, ROBERT (1886-1958) Boy with a Cap, Sitting on a Chair, double-sided composition with two oil paintings Fisherman Smoking and Wild Flowers on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 122.5 by 75 cm. Boy with a Cap, Sitting on a Chair executed c. 1910–1911. Fisherman Smoking executed in 1938. Wild Flowers executed in 1945. Provenance: Private collection, Europe. Fisherman Smoking: Previously in the collection of Professor N. Gershovich, Leningrad, until 1988. Authenticity certificate from the expert Yu. Didenko. Exhibited: Fisherman Smoking: Robert Fal’k, Tsentral’nyi dom rabotnikov iskusstv, Moscow, Autumn 1939. Literature: Fisherman Smoking: Exhibition catalogue, Robert Fal’k, Moscow, 1939, No. 142, listed as Rybak iz Simeiza. Krym. Yu. Didenko, compiler of Polnyi katalog zhivopisnykh proizvedenii R.R. Fal’ka// D. Sarabianov, Yu. Didenko, Zhivopis` Roberta Fal`ka. Polnyi katalog proizvedenii, Moscow, Elizium, 2006, p. 656, No. 952, listed. Boy with a Cap, Sitting on a Chair and Wild Flowers will be included in the forthcoming supplement to the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work being prepared by Yu. Didenko and D. Sarabianov. Robert Falk’s sensational canvas Boy with a Cap, Sitting on a Chair dates from 1910–1911 and the time of the first exhibition by the Jack of Diamonds group, of which Falk was a founding member. The work belongs to a series of portraits of children that Falk created between 1908 and 1911. These number several depictions of children in armchairs and sitting on chairs: Goga (1908), Little Girl in an Armchair (1909), Portrait of a Girl (1909), Girl in a Chair (1909) etc. To judge by a number of stylistic criteria, Boy with a Cap may be dated to the artist’s early Jack of Diamonds period. The portrait undoubtedly contains features of Primitivism, a style to which Falk was drawn for a short while in the years 1910–1911: the black outline round the figure, the generalised modelling of forms, and a certain flattening of the silhouette. The work that most resembles this painting is the 1911 portrait Boy in Blue against a Green Background. Many similarities can be discerned: the subject itself – a barefoot child, the sculptural rendering of the soles of the feet, the way both boys’ hands are placed on their knee, and the outlining of the figure. It is interesting that Boy in Blue is also painted on the other side of a later work and is of a similar size (92.5 by 82 cm) to Boy with a Cap, which is larger than his other canvasses of children. There is a clearly discernible tone in this painting, and this is typical of Falk’s work at the start of the 1910s. The predominant blue-grey in this case is thematically connected with the whitewashed wall and the towel hanging on it, interwoven as it is with other tones (pink, lilac, green and ochre) whose interaction creates a subtle surface vibrancy of hue. Boy with a Cap also marks Falk’s first testing of the principle he had developed as early as 1912–1913 of complex structuring of the painted surface through interplay between the shadows cast by a figure and the unique aura around it, but also the responding interplay of highlights and reflections on the surface of the figure. Double-sided oil paintings were characteristic of Falk’s creative process from the 1900s. When he needed a clean canvas he often showed no sympathy for a previous work and turned canvasses over to paint on the blank side. The upper part of the reverse side of Boy with a Cap is the portrait Fisherman Smoking. This work was created in 1938, after Falk’s return to Russia from Paris, during a trip to Alupka with his friend and pupil A.B. Yumashev, aviator and Hero of the Soviet Union. The portrait is painted in an easy, loose, almost sketchy manner in the smoky colours typical of Falk’s Parisian work, based on the most subtly nuanced grey, pale blue, lilac and light-ochre tones. For a long time this work was in the collection of the famous Leningrad collector Professor N.G. Gershovich and his family. It is also known to have been exhibited in 1939 at Falk’s one-man exhibition in Moscow. Lastly, the lower part of the reverse side is the still life Wild Flowers. This work dates to Falk’s late period (the 1940s and 1950s), which was the time of his greatest artistic achievements. The canvas was painted in the village of Sofrino near Zagorsk, not far from Moscow, at the dacha of Falk’s female pupil A.M. Tsuzmer, where he spent the summer of 1945 with his wife, Angelina Shchekin-Krotova, who gathered flowers in the surrounding fields and knew how to arrange bouquets for her husband’s still lifes. Later she recalled: “For Falk it was no simple matter to gather a bunch of flowers and paint it. He needed some particular idea that perhaps even he did not fully understand. He was looking for music in colour, an essential tonality”. We are grateful to Yulia Didenko, art historian and author of the catalogue raisonné on the artist, for providing additional catalogue information.
* VINOGRADOV, SERGEI (1869-1938) The Mamontovs` Estate, signed and indistinctly dated "1…". Oil on canvas, 76.5 by 99.5 cm. Executed in the 1910s. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov. Authenticity has also been confirmed by the expert I. Geraschenko. Literature: N. Lapidus, Sergei Vinogradov, Moscow, Zolotoi vek, 2010, pl. 96, illustrated; pp. 474 and 484, listed. Sergei Vinogradov, brilliant painter and illustrious exponent of Russian Impressionism, is represented in this catalogue by The Mamontovs’ Estate. This work from the 1910s typically reflects all the principles of the artist’s style and his determination to convey the effects of colour and light, a determination shared with other representatives of the Union of Russian Artists, especially Turzhansky, Zhukovsky and Yuon. Vinogradov mainly painted en plein air. His pictures are literally drenched in sunshine; the air in them is transparent, creating an illusion of naturalness in all elements of the landscape. The rays of sunlight seem to be moving, but realism is achieved without the tawdry detail typical of the Academic style. Vinogradov is not at all concerned with the picturesque elements of landscape, but is drawn by sincere affection for the simple, odd corners of the native landscape that the Russian heart holds dear – their natural, organic appearance and unpretentiousness. The artist’s Russian period is marked out by special warmth and lyricism, and this is felt both in the euphoric mood of his pictures and in his gentle handling of paint, which avoids sharp, abrupt accents. The warm colours that predominate in his work, like the happy juxtaposition of shades in his palette, are so recognisable that they unerringly identify the hand of the artist. The Mamontovs’ Estate is one of Sergei Vinogradov’s undisputed masterpieces, serving as an artistic calling card, which set the highest benchmark for the whole Russian landscape school of the first quarter of the 20th century.
* KUZNETSOV, PAVEL (1878-1968) Eastern City. Bukhara, signed, also further signed, inscribed "Moskou" and in Cyrillic "V Bukhare" and dated 1912. Oil on canvas, 103 by 80 cm. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artists’s studio by Tatiana Kozyreva in 1956. Private collection, Europe. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov. Authenticity has also been confirmed by the expert I. Geraschenko. Exhibited: Mir iskusstva, Moscow, 1915. Mir iskusstva, Moscow, 1917. Vystavka kartin khudozhnikov Pavla Kuznetsova i Eleny Bebutovoi, Russian Academy of Artistic Sciences, Moscow, May 1923. Peredvizhnaya vystavka sovetskogo iskusstva v Yaponii, Harbin, Tokyo, Aomori, 1926–1927. Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov. 75 let so dnya rozhdeniya. 55 let tvorcheskoi deyatel’nosti, Central House of Art Workers, Moscow, April 1956. Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov, Moscow, 1964. Pavel Kuznetsov. K stoletiyu so dnya rozhdeniya, Moscow, 1978. Literature: Exhibition catalogue, Mir iskusstva, Moscow, 1915, p. 11, No. 147, listed as V Bukhare. Exhibition catalogue, Mir iskusstva, Moscow, 1917, p. 7, No. 97, listed as V Bukhare. Katalog vystavki kartin khudozhnikov Pavla Kuznetsova i Eleny Bebutovoy, Moscow, 1923, p. 5, No. 53, listed as V Bukhare. Exhibition catalogue, Peredvizhnaya vystavka sovetskogo iskusstva v Yaponii, Harbin, Tokyo, Aomori, 1926–1927. Exhibition catalogue, Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov. 75 let so dnya rozhdeniya. 55 let tvorcheskoy deyatel’nosti, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1956, p. 12, listed as V Bukhare under works from 1912. Exhibition catalogue, Pavel Varfolomeevich Kuznetsov, Moscow, 1964, p. 14, listed as Bukhara under works from 1912. M. Alpatov, Pavel Kuznetsov, Moscow, Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo, 1969, illustrated; p. 113, No. 19, listed as Bukhara, incorrectly dated 1911. L. Budkova, D. Sarabianov, Pavel Kuznetsov, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1975, pl. 44, illustrated; p. 332, No. 225, listed as Vostochnyi gorod. Bukhara under works from 1915–1916. A. Rusakova, Pavel Kuznetsov, Leningrad, Iskusstvo, 1977, p. 123, illustrated; p. 281, listed as Vostochnyi gorod, incorrectly dated 1913–1914; pp. 125–126, mentioned in the text. Exhibition catalogue, Pavel Kuznetsov. K stoletiyu so dnya rozhdeniya, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1978, illustrated and listed as Vostochnyi gorod. Bukhara under works from 1915–1916. Related literature: For the reproduction of the present lot as a postcard, see E. Butorina, Pavel Kuznetsov. Komplekt otkrytok, Leningrad, 1970. Eastern City. Bukhara is one of the principal and best-known masterpieces of Pavel Kuznetsov’s Central Asian series. Kuznetsov spent several years in the East before the First World War, travelling first across the steppes of Kirghizia and then visiting Central Asia in 1912–1913. “Wishing to continue the theme of the East, which has an affinity for me,” he wrote in his notes, “I decided to delve deeper into Asia: Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. For two consecutive summers I reflected the landscapes and life of this region in my works. The colouration of everything I saw there, so unfamiliar to us Russians, inspired me with new emotions and a new approach to painting, which sprang from the reality around me.” Bukhara, the most harmonious of the works in Kuznetsov’s Central Asian cycle, offers a certain quintessence of the eastern city. Alongside the best of the steppe pictures from 1911–1912, it represents the summit of Kuznetsov’s creative achievement. Motifs from other Bukhara works reappear in the picture recast, abstracted and purified to a full clarity and simplicity of primary forms. In Bukhara we find the clearest manifestation of the search for new structural solutions in harmony with the time, a search which is also present, in a milder, veiled form, in Kuznetsov’s other Bukhara works. The artist’s “course towards Derain and Picasso” (in the apt phrase of the art critic, Abram Efros) led Kuznetsov in this picture to a tangible geometrization of forms. And yet Cubism as a world view or even as an intellectual analysis of visible structures remained alien to the artist. While accepting many features of Gauguin’s synthetism, Braque’s decorative qualities, and some of Derain’s painting techniques, Kuznetsov remained sensitive to other important artistic trends of the Russian avant-garde – the influence of the old iconographic tradition and a passion for different variants of Oriental art. Kuznetsov, in his Bukhara works, limited cubist treatment to those phenomena, which seemed to him to come to meet a type of geometrisation that was more visual than methodological – the architecture of the buildings made from stone or pressed earth, and the jagged outcrops of the mountains around Bukhara. This selectiveness, with which objects are chosen or not chosen for cubist treatment within a single picture, produces a vibrant duality, lending an inner tension to the composition. This duality is present in Bukhara, where only the background of the picture fragments into stereometric protoforms. Kuznetsov on the one hand analytically decomposes inanimate objects in the image, but on the other hand achieves their organic unity and easy mergence with nature. He looks at objects sometimes from above and sometimes from below, and compacts the space of the picture without sacrificing its architectonic quality. Rectangular planes intersect and are deformed, volumes are fragmented, broken lines reach upwards in a repeating, rhythmic drawing pattern. The buildings, rising ledge by ledge, are akin to the icon representation of hills in Novgorod wall paintings. The colouration of the background is in an unexpected relationship with its complex constructivist treatment – a range of light yellow, pinkish-orange, ochre tones, subtly tinged with the crimson, blue, and glowing red surfaces of the buildings. In this portrait of Bukhara, which the artist loved above all eastern cities, Kuznetsov brought together his principal impressions of the region, achieving a composite unity of mountains, buildings clinging together, solitary trees, a shred of sky and the women with peacocks, united by the rhythmic organization of the picture as a whole and the colour harmony of golden-yellow and sky-blue tones. All of these elements make Bukhara into one of the most valuable and important examples of the artist’s work. In the 1970s Budkova and Sarabianov suggested that the picture, from the collection of Tatiana Kozyreva, was in fact painted in 1915 when the artist was revisiting his memories of Central Asia, synthesising what he had discovered there and on his wanderings on the Kirghiz steppes.
* KUZNETSOV, PAVEL (1878-1968) Still Life on a Grand Piano with a Portrait of E. Bebutova, titled in Cyrillic and numbered "341" on the reverse. Oil on canvas, 99 by 78 cm. Provenance: Collection of the artist’s family. Acquired from the above by the present owner. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert V. Petrov. Pavel Kuznetsov is one of the finest and most sensitive Russian painters of the first half of the 20th century. The colours in Still Life on a Grand Piano with a Portrait of E. Bebutova are rich and deep and are based on an astonishingly beautiful interplay of cool tones with warmer highlights. Kuznetsov’s efforts to explore and understand colour provided inspiration for several generations of Russian artists. His name was connected with the legendary Blue Rose and Mir iskusstva groups which became symbols of Russian figurative art’s Silver Age. Kuznetsov’s work is often characterised by the masterly way he conveys reflected light to create a special, captivating atmosphere. The narrative of the objects depicted is no accident. The exercise book on the lid of the grand piano containing a score by Scriabin, a composer Kuznetsov loved and revered, the familiar vase that is in much of his work and the reproduction of Portrait of Bebutova on the wall are all indoor trappings from the world of the artist. The whole tenor of the painting is extraordinarily musical. The essence of the mood conveyed in Still Life on a Grand Piano with a Portrait of E. Bebutova defines the general character of the artist’s work: deep and philosophically considered.
* YUON, KONSTANTIN (1875-1958) Gates of the Rostov Kremlin, signed. Oil on canvas, 63 by 81 cm. Executed in 1906. Provenance: Collection of I. Isadzhanov, Moscow. Private collection, Europe. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the expert Yu. Rybakova. Exhibited:Vystavka kartin K.F. Yuona. K 25-letiyu khudozhestvennoi deyatel’nosti, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 1926, No. 7. Sovetskie khudozhniki starshego pokoleniya, Moscow, June 1958 (label on the reverse). Literature: A. Koiranskii, K.F. Yuon, St Petersburg, A. Kogan, 1918, p. 68, listed under works from 1906. Exhibition catalogue, Vystavka kartin K.F. Yuona. K 25-letiyu khudozhestvennoi deyatel’nosti, Moscow, 1926, p. 30, No. 7, listed. N. Tretyakov, K.F. Yuon, Moscow, 1957, p. 103, listed under works from 1906. Yu. Osmolovskii, Konstantin Fedorovich Yuon, Moscow, Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1982, p. 226, listed under works from 1906. The present lot was published as a postcard by the Community of Saint Eugenia before 1926. Konstantin Yuon’s cycle of works dedicated to the ancient Russian town of Rostov the Great dates back to 1903, when a record in his handwriting appeared in the visitors’ book of the Rostov Museum: “Konstantin Yuon, artist from Moscow”. From that time on Rostov was for many years a place of pilgrimage for the artist. He came to work here from 1904 to 1906 and again from 1913 to 1916. The majestic ancient architecture became the subjects of many of Yuon’s Rostov paintings. The majority of these works are now held in the State Tretyakov Gallery and Russian Museum as well as local museums in Omsk, Ryazan and Serpukhov. The outstanding Gates of the Rostov Kremlin, offered here at auction, is well known from books. Painted in 1906, it differs dramatically from Yuon’s other works of this period which are based on the interaction between a genre element in the foreground and a wide panorama of the Kremlin (Fine Day. Rostov the Great, 1906; Spring Evening. Rostov the Great, 1906; Winter. Rostov the Great, 1906). Yuon depicts a bright summer’s day but does not drench the scene in light, instead he makes his sunlit world, and first and foremost the architecture, extremely clear and well-defined in terms of its mass, while at the same time conveying the tremulousness and transparency of the summer atmosphere. The variety of the colour and light effects, the air and sunshine which pervade the picture, the purity of the paints, the colour in the shadows, the lively texture of his free brushwork – all these superlative aspects of Yuon’s technique are present in Gates of the Rostov Kremlin.
*§ KOMAR, VITALY and MELAMID, ALEXANDER (B.1943 and B. 1945) Lenin Hails a Cab in New York, from the Series "Monumental Propaganda/Lenin`s Tomb", signed, inscribed with the artists` names, titled and dated 1993 on the reverse. Oil and tempera on canvas, 102 by 76 cm. Provenance: Private collection, USA. Authenticity of the work has been confirmed by Vitaly Komar. Related literature: For the other version of the present lot, see The New Yorker, New York, 12 July 1993, reproduced on the cover. Exhibition catalogue, It’s the Real Thing: Soviet and Post-Soviet Sots Art and American Pop Art, Minneapolis, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, 1998, reproduced on the cover. Athanor XXIII, Tallahassee, Florida State University, Department of Art History, 2005, reproduced on the cover. Lenin Hails a Cab in New York is an iconic piece by Komar and Melamid painted in 1993, a period of political unrest and popularized destruction of the past in Russia. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the October Putsch in 1993, Russia embarked on the path to its newest history, taking down and destroying Soviet monuments, symbols and signs. Together with Independent Curators, Komar and Melamid, by that time already living in New York, began the Monumental Propaganda project in an attempt to preserve the historical lessons of the Soviet past for future generations. More than 200 Russian and Western artists participated in the project, creating artwork on theme of the preservation of monuments, which received extensive press coverage and subsequent public resonance in Russia. The present lot is the first, original version of this composition. Despite its relatively small size, the canvas possesses monumental, almost mural-like qualities. The tall figure of Lenin, as if defying the streets of New York, is echoed by the Chrysler Building and the red flag of the fast-food eatery in the background – the new symbols of the capitalist world dressed in communist symbols: the red of the MacDonald’s flag and red Kremlin star on top of the Chrysler building. This juxtaposition is what creates a strong and powerful image of its time, so much so that another version of this canvas was published on the cover of the New Yorker Magazine in 1993. Addressing the issue of iconoclasm, the present work depicts Lenin in a pose familiar from multiple monuments across the major public spaces in Russia. Taking the iconic image out of its usual context and placing Lenin on the streets of New York transforms him from a leader of revolution to a regular passer-by engaged in the simple, humdrum act of hailing a cab. The narrative of the picture is developed though the collision of a real character with his utopian surroundings, addressing nostalgia and banality through mockery and humor. Through this unique interpretation, Komar and Melamid reveal all that stands behind Moscow Conceptualism of the 20th century. To quote Professor A. Leigh-Perlman of Montclair State University in Future Ruins: Time, Memory and History in the Work of Komar and Melamid: “Komar and Melamid’s art from the past three decades has been characterized by many important themes and has utilized a wide variety of media and subject matter. As vanguards of Moscow’s particular brand of Conceptualism, they have helped close this dramatic century with a temporal concern for the past as it colors our present and guides us into the future. The two-fold process of remembering and repeating acted out in much of their work serves to solidify the chance of recognizing oppression when it arises in the future. This process of nostalgic repetition may be uncomfortable, we may be confused as to whether we should laugh or cry, but we are left with the monumental sense that we must never forget. Embarking on the future, we need not fear how coming generations will interpret us, as long as we know that the memories of history have taught us the lessons of the past.”
A PRESENTATION EQUESTRIAN MANTEL CLOCK WITH MUSICAL CHIME LYUBAVIN, ST. PETERSBURG,1904, 84 STANDARD Height 45 cm, base 40.5 by 25 cm. The green-grey hardstone chiselled to imitate a rocky outcrop, centred with a circular white dial with black Roman numerals within plain silver bezel and applied with dedication plaque “For distinguished conduct in Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878”, Roman and Arabic numerals “XXV” and “1863.1888» and the badge of the Order of St. George and enamelled epaulettes, mounted with a silver cast and finely chased figure of a horse with mounted artilleryman; the wooden base containing musical movement with a commemorative plaque engraved in Cyrillic “From colleagues and comrades-in-arms of the Life-Guards of the 1st Artillery Squadron and Field Artillery Battalion” and a list of sixty officers. This fine clock with an equestrian figure was presented to an unnamed distinguished officer who served in the Life-Guards of the 1st Artillery Squadron and Field Artillery Batallion. The red and white colours of the enamel epaulettes on the clock correspond to the colours of the wrist-cuffs and welts of the uniform of this military unit. The clues to the identity of the officer can be found in the names of his colleagues listed on the plaque. Among them: General-Major M. Meklenburg-Strelitskii (Commander of the Squadron 1903–1908), Colonels V. Lekhovich, N. Demidov, E.Smyslovskii and N. Il’kevich, Captain G.Veshnyakov and Staff-Commander N. Belyaev. The military register proves that these officers at some point in their military career all served in the Life-Guards of the 1st Artillery Squadron. The majority of them were still serving in that Squadron in 1904 when the clock was presented. The Life-Guards unit of the 1st Artillery Squadron was founded in 1796 and participated in the Russo-Turkish war (1877–1878) and World War I; the Field Artillery Battalion was founded in 1898 and disbanded in 1918. Both units were based in St. Petersburg. The dedication plaque “For distinguished conduct in Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878” indicates that the officer to whom the clock was presented, also participated in that war and was awarded the Order of St. George. Research into the Order’s knights who would match these criteria has produced only one name – that of Colonel Alexander Onoprienko. Alexander Onoprienko (1827 – after 1917) was awarded the 4th Class Order of St. George in 1878. By 1904, he was the Commander of the Life-Guards 1st Artillery Squadron for 25 years (from 1879), and in 1888 he also took command of the 2nd Artillery Squadron. He participated in the suppression of the Polish rebellion in 1863 and was in charge of the St. Petersburg military district from 1895. Onoprienko resigned from this post on the 12th August 1904. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that the present lot was a leaving present from his colleagues. The history of the Russian army and the dramatic events of the first quarter of the 20th century are all reflected in this clock, which makes it not only a remarkable timepiece and work of art, but above all a historical artifact of particular importance to collectors.
* THREE GOLD AND GUILLOCHÉ ENAMEL MINIATURE EASTER EGG PENDANTS RED AND GREEN WITH MAKER’S MARK OF FEODOR AFANASSIEV, ST. PETERSBURG, YELLOW WITH MAKER’S MARK OF ANDREI ADLER, ST. PETERSBURG, ALL EARLY 20TH CENTURY, 56 STANDARD Height yellow and red 2 cm each, green 1.5 cm (including suspension loops). The first enamelled in translucent strawberry red and applied with a diamond-set decoration, the other two in translucent yellow-ochre and green.
* A VERY FINE AND RARE PRESENTATION SILVER-GILT AND PLIQUE-À-JOUR ENAMEL SET PAVEL OVCHINNIKOV, MOSCOW, CIRCA 1895, HAND ENDGRAVED SIGNATURE IN CYRILLIC ON A SMALLER KOVSH Height of the beaker 12 cm, length of the larger kovsh 20 cm, of a smaller 11.5 cm each. Comprising: a large beaker of tapering form, the body decorated with panels of stylised foliage on blue ground within white beaded borders alternating with panels depicting brightly-coloured tropical birds and a Chinese man dressed in yellow robes, twisted cable rims, supported on domed circular foot; a large kovsh with shallow bowl on raised foot, raised prow terminating with cone finial with flat shaped fleur-de-lys handle, enamelled with panels of birds, butterflies and foliage within blue-beaded borders, twisted cable rim; two small kovshi of typical form with circular bowls on raised foot and palmette-shaped flat handles, one decorated with stylised flower heads and scrolling foliage, the other with alternating turquoise and blue bean-shaped panels enamelled with stylised foliage within blue-beaded border and twisted cable rim, with a hand engraved signature in Cyrillic “Rab. P. Ovchinnikova synovia” under base; held in original case. Plique-à-jour enamel – one of the most elegant and difficult enamelling techniques – became very popular in Russia towards the end of the 19th century. Fine wares and decorative objects executed in plique-à-jour enamel are considered to be the pinnacle of craftsmanship as only a handful of jewellers in the world could work in this technique, amongst them, Pavel Ovchinnikov. The report from the All-Russia Exhibition held in Moscow in 1882, credited Pavel Ovchinnikov with the revival of this long-lost technique. The master craftsmen from his firm were among the first to start producing objects with plique-à-jour enamel. The production of plique-à-jour is technically very challenging and time-consuming, even the top masters would need to carry out several experiments before achieving the desired effect and colour. The enameller had to be not only an accomplished painter, but also a superb technician. Very often due to technical issues, plique-à-jour enamel objects were destroyed at the very last stages of production, which makes them even more rare and desirable. Although many shapes of types of objects could be executed in plique-à-jour, the Russian masters favoured the traditional forms of the kovsh, beakers, spoons and boxes etc. Plique-à-jour enamels have always been very expensive and were comparable to gems. Notwithstanding their apparent fragility, the enamel objects (which were fired at high temperatures) will keep their rich and vibrant colours for centuries. The variety of forms, richness of colours together with the excellent condition of the set, which has been kept in its original presentation box, make this a unique and rare example of the craftsmanship of the enamellers working for Pavel Ovchinnikov.
A FINE ICON OF THE "CLOUD" DORMITION PALEKH, CIRCA 1800 72.5 by 55 cm. This icon is a work of the highest quality by an outstanding master. It represents the most developed version of a so-called “Cloud” Dormition. The apostles are depicted rapt in wonder at the bedside of the Mother of God and also in the upper part of the composition, flying-in on clouds towards Jerusalem from various lands. The first portrayal of this kind in Rus is encountered in an early 13th century icon from the Desyatinny Monastery Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God near Novgorod (now in the State Tretyakov Gallery). Following an ancient narrative source, the artist depicted Thomas with the other apostles, though according to a later recension, Thomas only arrived in Jerusalem after the Mother of God’s funeral. The Old Believers’ held on to this distinctive feature found in the ancient version, as represented on the icon here (Thomas is shown twice: on the extreme right standing by the bed of the Mother of God and in the top right-hand corner, flying upon a cloud). Other depictions on the icon also reflect the original ancient text: the composition includes Saint James of Jerusalem, the Lord’s brother (behind the Mother of God’s bed, holding a censer), Timothy of Edessa, Dionysius the Areopagite and Hierotheos of Athens (in the archways, in the third row), and also the wives and maidens of Jerusalem (in the archways, right and left). The soul of the Mother of God is depicted in the form of a swaddled baby in the arms of Christ; above, in the centre of the composition, is the Mother of God seated on a throne in heavenly glory and being exalted by angels. The energy of the composition is enhanced by miniature painting of the finest quality which conveys the spiritual animation of each character. Thanks to its immaculate state of preservation, this historic artefact fully reflects the conception of the artist and may rightfully be considered a genuine masterpiece of late Russian icon painting.
* ALL CREATION REJOICES IN THEE WITH A SILVER-GILT OKLAD MOSCOW, FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY 33 by 27 cm. Related literature: For similar works, see Ikony Yaroslavlya XIII – serediny XVII veka, Moscow, 2009, in 2 vol., p. 90, no. 127. A. Rybakov, Vologodskaya icona. Tsentry khudozhestvennoi kultury zemli Vologodskoi XIII–XVIII vekov, Moscow, 1995, no. 154, 156. The icon is an illustration of the opening lines of the troparion of St John of Damascus in honour of the Mother of God: ‘O Thou who art full of grace, the joy of every creature, the host of angels and the race of man. O Holy Temple and Paradise of the Word...’ At the centre of the complex, theologically rich composition is the image of the Mother of God and Child on a throne, surrounded by the glory of heaven, and behind her the angelic host and temple against a background of the Garden of Paradise. In the bottom part of the composition are representations of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints, martyrs and holy people. This icon also includes several additional depictions that are rarely encountered. In the middle tier, on the same level as the Mother of God, are portrayals in the archways of King David holding a harp (left) and the Good Thief with a cross (right). We find a similar addition of this composition in an icon of the second quarter of the 17th century from the Yaroslavl Museum of Art and in an icon of the early 18th century, from the Vologda Regional Museum. These two depictions are associated with the Mother of God being compared to a ‘holy temple’ (a similar prophetic symbolism is found in the psalms of David) and as ‘paradise of the word’ (cf. the Good Friday canticle: ‘Thou didst vouchsafe the wise thief, O Lord, to be straightway in paradise’). A further – and this time unique – addition to the composition are the Seven Sleeping Youths of Ephesus. This independent subject replaces the youths (three or one in number) depicted on some other icons, also on the bottom in the centre. Also of interest is the temple, depicted with Baroque architectural features (a building divided into two tiers, the facade with decorative columns, pilasters, cartouches with swags, and cupolas to match ‘Ukrainian Baroque’). The Garden of Paradise is also more specific than had traditionally been the case: not with depictions of abstract flowers, but with trees of precise draughtsmanship, bearing paradisiacal apples. The Garden of Paradise motif is continued in the artistic rendition of the frame which has plant ornamentation in the form of a vine; two of whose branches split from a single stem on the bottom border and climb the side borders to come together again, thus embracing the icon’s whole composition. The icon is notable for the great professional skill of its painting and the bringing together of ancient tradition with certain special, stylistic qualities of the Kremlin Armoury school to provide a splendid example of Muscovite icon painting of the Modern Era.
* A LARGE ICON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT TRINITY NORTHERN RUSSIA, CIRCA 1700 82 by 66 cm. The icon shows the widely popular subject of the Old Testament Trinity in its historic version, however a number of iconographic details distinguish this image from the numerous artisan reproductions of this long-famous composition. Abraham and Sarah are depicted emerging from a building in the middle ground, to the left, whereas they usually witness the three angels’ miraculous appearance from behind a refectory table or in front of it amongst the angels. One further peculiarity of the composition is the contrived balance, i.e., the equal importance of the three features in the middle ground: the architectural ensemble, the vertical lines of the Oak of Mamre and the high mountain with its yawning cavern. This device further underlines the dogmatic meaning of the subject: the triune quality of the hypostases of the Holy Trinity. The special features of the composition that have been noted are seldom encountered. For example, in the exhibition catalogue ‘The Blessed Sergius of Radonezh and the image of the Holy Trinity in ancient Russian art’ (Moscow, 2013), this version of icon is not represented. There is however, a large (91 x 72 cm) icon which closely resembles the image described, from the Church of the Dormition by the Ferry, Pskov, dating from the first half of the 17th century (now in the Pskov State Museum of Architectural History and Art, PKM-1416). This monumental image of the Old Testament Trinity was made for one of the cathedrals dedicated to the Trinity in the Russian North. Its bright, festive colours and rare iconographic peculiarities make it a memorable and historic artefact of traditional icon- painting and which reflects a popular art aesthetic.
A pair of Continental Sitzendorf figure groups of courting couples, the first showing a gentleman and lady sharing a seat aside a garland of husks, the second gentleman whispering to a lady, each in flowing robes on stepped naturalistic bases, painted double `XX` marks beneath, 36cm high. (2)
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