SALE: Russian Works of Art, Fabergé & Icons at Sotheby’s in April

Sotheby’s New York auction of Russian Works of Art, Fabergé & Icons on 17 April 2012 will offer a strong selection of rare and magnificent objects, many of which are emerging from private collections where they have been hidden for decades. The morning session at 10am will include icons, bronzes, porcelain and jewelry, featuring 124 dinner, soup and dessert plates commissioned in 1856 by Emperor Alexander II as additions to the St. Andrew Service, and crafted at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg (11 lots, with estimates ranging from $9,000 to 80,000). The afternoon session at 2pm will offer important silver, enamels, Fabergé pieces, led by A Rare Fabergé Carved Lapis Lazuli Desk Clock Mounted in Gold, Silver, and Enamel, Workmaster Henrik Wigstrom, St. Petersburg, circa 1910 that once belonged to legendary collector and businessman Lansdell K. Christie (est. $250/350,000). The sale will be on exhibition in Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries beginning 12 April, alongside the auction of Magnificent Jewels.

A Fabergé Silver and Wood Presentation Lamp, Workmaster Karl Gustav Hjalmar Armfelt, St. Petersburg, circa 1900-1906. Est. $100/150,000. Photo: Sotheby's.

Another highlight of the Fabergé on offer in the April auction will be A Fabergé Silver and Wood Presentation Lamp, Workmaster Karl Gustav Hjalmar Armfelt, St. Petersburg, circa 1900-1906 (est. $100/150,000). The magnificent lamp, with its fine neoclassical fittings, was presented to Baron Emmanuel Nolde (1854-1909) by members of his staff – Nolde was a distinguished jurist and statesman, and one of Emperor Nicholas II’s key advisors. A Russian Diamond-Set Varicolor Gold, Platinum, and Translucent Enamel Presentation Cigarette Case, Carl Blank, St. Petersburg, circa 1900 also carries important provenance, having been presented to the Don Cossack General Nikolai Klunnikov (1858-1917) by grateful Ukrainian landowners of the Taganrog District, of which he was Administrator (est. $110/130,000).


This year marks the 200th Anniversary of the decisive Battle of Borodino, which marked the beginning of the end for Napoleon’s forces in Russia. The celebrations in 1912 served as the inspiration for A Russian Gilded Silver and Shaded Enamel Pictorial Table Cigar Box, Moscow, circa 1912 (est. $150/250,000). The cigar box depicts the French commander and his troops watching the burning of the Moscow Kremlin. The sale will offer additional items in porcelain, ivory, silver, and gold that were inspired by the victories two centuries ago, and the patriotic fervor they unleashed.


You can read the full article via ArtDaily here.  

Russian events in April by Taryn Jones

Here are some events happening in the month of April in the USA.  Enjoy!

April 1 – DC
Faberge Egg Family Festival
Celebrate spring’s arrival in Russian style at Hillwood Estate! Enjoy festive folk music and storytelling, meet historic character Tsar Nicholas II, and take part in a centuries-old egg-rolling game. Step into Faberge’s Workshop to decorate your own Faberge-inspired egg.
Tickets $15, 12 seniors, $10 members and college students, $5 children 6-18

The "Napoleonic Egg", created by Faberge in 1912 as a gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna

Where: Hillwood House Musuem
When: April 1, 1-5
Telephone: 202-686.5807


April 14 and 19 – Boston
The Kremlin
Join the Museum of Russian Icons for an interactive lecture and the opportunity to create your own piece of art!


In conjunction with the special exhibition Maps: Pathways to Russia, Traditional Russian artist and lecturer Marina Forbes brings to life the images and stories of Moscow Kremlin, transporting listeners back to Old Russia in the age of Ivan the Great, Peter the Great, and Catherine the Great. Marina’s interactive presentation is beautifully illustrated with
carefully selected pieces of Russian art, revealing fascinating details of everyday Russian life at the time.


The discussion features a remarkable 17th century map of the Moscow Kremlin, chosen from the exhibition.


Enjoy a fascinating story for the whole family and then create your own
unique piece of art in an interactive hands-on workshop using different painting techniques and acrylic paints on your choice of predesigned surfaces (gessoed boards, textured paper, or ceramic tiles) inspired by beautiful Kremlin scenery.


Workshop fee: Adults (ages 18+), $12, Members; $15, nonmembers
Youth (ages 6 through 17) $8, Members; $10, nonmembers
Advance registration recommended, call (978) 598-5000.


Workshop fees are non-refundable.The costs for the pre-designed painting surfaces range from $12 to $35, payable directly to the instructor on the day of the course via cash or check.


Where: Museum of Russian Icons
When: April 14, 10-1 and April 19 12:30-3:30
Telephone: (978) 598-5000.


April 14 – NY
Join Brooklyn’s Dweck Center for their April installment of the ongoing Russian literary series.


Psoy Korolenko, scholar, critic and Slavist.
Pavel Lion is a respected scholar, Slavist and critic, but he is better known as Psoy Korolenko. Psoy performs his own and others’ songs, accompanying himself on keyboard. A “post-modernist jester”, he critiques culture while also imparting new energy and meaning to it. In Russian. RSVP by calling 718-230-2222. Limit two per person.


Where: Dweck Center
When: April 14, 4 PM
Telephone: 718-230-2222


April 19 – NY
Join the Dweck Center for the April installment of the ongoing Russian film series!


This year marks 80th birthday of Leonid Gurevich, one of the greatest Russian documentary script writers and film teachers. He was known among generations of documentary filmmakers as a “Guru”. Family members, friends and former students get together to celebrate legacy of the great film master. The fragments of the films by Gurevich and by his famous students will highlight the event. In Russian. RSVP by calling 718-230-2222. Limit two per person.


Where: Dweck Center
When: April 19, 6:30 PM
Telephone: 718-230-2222


April 21 – Boston
Join Boston’s Museum of Russian Icons for their symposium entitled “A Comprehensive Review of Historic Russian Cartography” with renowned scholars Valerie Kivelson and Kelly O’Neill.


Two renowned scholars share their expertise on the subject of Russian cartography in this program organized in conjunction with the special exhibition MAPS: Pathways to Russia. The lecture topics are “Mapping the Holy Russia: Cartography and Icons in Early Modern Russia” with Valerie Kivelson and Arthur F. Thurnau, and “Mighty Stream So Deep and Wide’: Rivers, Maps, and the Idea of a Russian Empire” with Kelly O’Neill.


Where: Museum of Russian Icons
When: April 21, 3-5 PM
Telephone: (978) 598-5000.
Tickets: $15 for members, $20 for non-members.


April 24- DC
Join Hillwood Estate and Museum for a book signing and lecture on Napoleon and Russia.


Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 is one of the most famous stories in European history. Nevertheless much of the story as usually told is untrue. Outside Russia 1812 is usually told just from Napoleon’s point of view and without regard for Russian sources. In Russia the story is distorted by nationalist myths. Leo Tolstoy (author of War and Peace) was a great novelist but also a key myth-maker as regards Russia’s defeat of Napoleon. In his interpretation, governments and generals count for little and Napoleon is defeated by the elemental patriotism of the Russian people. In reality, the tsarist government planned and executed an intelligent grand strategy which exploited Russia’s strengths and Napoleon’s weaknesses. Join visiting scholar Dominic Lieven, who used never-before-seen material from the Russian archives, to delve deeper into this riveting history. Lieven will sign copies of Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace following the lecture.


Dominic Lieven is a research professor at Cambridge (Senior Research Fellow: Trinity College). He was a professor of history at the London School of Economics from 1978-2011. His last book, Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace, won the Wolfson History Prize and also the Prix de la Fondation Napoleon. Three of his direct ancestors were generals in the Battle of Leipzig. He lives partly in Britain and partly in Japan.


Where: Hillwood Estate and Museum
When: April 24, 7-8:30 PM
Telephone: 202-686.5807
Tickets: $20, $10 for members, $7 for college students


April 29 – NY
Luba Poliak
Join Brooklyn’s Dweck Center for Luba Poliak’s performance of classical music!


Born in Siberia, Poliak was eleven years old when she first appeared with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. She will perform a piano recital featuring Prokofiev’s Sonata No.8 in B flat major, Op.84 and Schumann’s Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.22.


Where: Dweck Center
When: April 29, 4PM
Telephone: 718-230-2222


Portrait of Graham Ratgauz, 1964, Oleg Vassiliev.
Ongoing Exhibitions: MN


Join Minneapolis’ Museum of Russian Art for an ongoing exhibition of the work of Oleg Vassiliev. Exhibit ongoing until May 6.


The Art of Oleg Vassiliev surveys the career of one of the most important unofficial Soviet artists.  Full of personal memories, his masterful works are an energetic meditation on human memory, forgetting, and a return to one’s home.


A graduate of the Surikov Art Institute, Oleg Vassiliev  actively participated in the non-conformist art scene of Soviet Moscow from the 1950s through the 1980s. Vassiliev’s art is rooted in the rich tradition of the Russian Realist style and the early Soviet avant-garde.


His works on paper include his House with the Mezzanine series, inspired by Anton Chekhov’s story and building on the achievements of post-revolutionary constructivist art. The House with the Mezzanine print series unfolds a wondrously poetic and visually striking journey that makes tangible the pace of history. To read Anton Chekhov’s story click here.


Also featured in the Lower Gallery are his drawings, collages and some of his book illustrations done in the 1960s and 1970s together with his friend Erik Bulatov.  One of the lenders to this exhibition is the New York-based Kolodzei Art Foundation whose remarkable collection chronicles four decades of Russian and Soviet nonconformist art from the post-Stalinist era to the present.  Other pieces come from noted Vassiliev collector Neil Rector as well as from the artist and his family.


Born in Moscow in 1931, Vassiliev is one of the most important artists to emerge from the Soviet underground art scene. His artistic vision opposed the ideologies of the State-endorsed Socialist Realism combining constructivist approaches of the 1920s with the Russian realism of the 19th century. Vassiliev was influenced by the leading Soviet graphic artist Vladimir Favorsky (1886-1964). Together with his friends, well-known non-conformists Ilya Kabakov and Eric Bulatov, Oleg Vassiliev supported himself working as a book illustrator, while also creating his marvelous works in the seclusion of his studio.  Like many of his generation of underground artists, Vassiliev left Russia after the end of the cold war, moving to New York City in 1990. He now resides in Minnesota.


Vassiliev graduated from V.I. Surikov State Art Institute in Moscow, where he specialized in graphics.  Vassiliev’s work is broadly recognized for its unique place in Russian art and can be found in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery, The State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; The State Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow; The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow; Denver Art Museum, Colorado; Duke University Museum of Art,  Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland; and the Norsk-Russisk Kultursenter Galleri, Norway


Where: The Museum of Russian Art
Telephone: (612) 821-9045


Taryn Jones graduated in 2008 from the University of Victoria (Canada) with her BA in history and anthropology. During that time, she also studied Russian and art history, and was heavily involved with the university’s Russian Studies course union. In January 2012, she will begin her studies at the University of British Columbia in a double Master’s program in library and archival science.Taryn’s specific artistic interests are the Wanderers, Socialist Realism and photography.
This article first appeared on Art in Russia, April 1, 2012.
View all posts by Taryn Jones
http://artinrussia.org/april-events/