Category Archives: Russian Art

BOOK REVIEW: Marjorie Merriweather Post The Life Behind the Luxury

Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Life Behind the Luxury

Estella M. Chung

UK£24.95 / US$29.95 Hardback
ISBN 978-1-911282-45-7 200
D Giles Limited in association with Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington, DC, 2019

MMP

 

Complementing Chung’s first book Living Artfully: At Home with Marjorie Merriweather Post this richly illustrated volume takes a wider look at Mrs Post’s life from her birth in 1887 to her death in 1973. Hers was, thanks to her great wealth, a life that attracted press interest in her four marriages, social life, clothes and homes. Her father’s suicide was also another source of interest but her resulting ownership of the Postum Cereal Company was the start of her business interests and she amply proved that she was a capable and knowledgeable business woman. She was deeply philanthropic in both war and peacetime and Estella Cheung reveals this eloquently.

We join Mrs Post aboard her plane and yacht as she travels to either her Adirondack camp or cruises the Mediterranean and elsewhere but what particularly intrigued me was the 1904 journey taken with her father around southern England in a specially hired horse-drawn Stage Coach during which they visited Salisbury a place I know well.

Although she enjoyed a life of luxury and wealth it becomes clear that whatever her financial status Mrs Post would have been successful at anything she turned her hand to. That drive combined with her care and concern for others makes her a remarkable and memorable woman.

 

gilesltd.com

 

BOOK REVIEW: Fabergé Rediscovered

Fabergé Rediscovered

Wilfried Zeisler

ISBN: 978-1-911282-16-7

D Giles Ltd

In association with Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens

£35.00

9781911282167_FC

Catherine the Great Egg. Firm of Fabergé, 1914. Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, acc. no. 11.81.1-2. © Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens / Photograph by Alex Braun

 

This new book focuses on the well-known collection of Fabergé at Hillwood and relates how new research and discovery of pieces thought to have been lost impact on items among the ninety or so pieces collected by Mrs Post.

We learn more about Fabergé’s firm in the 19th and early 20th centuries and its place in the world of goldsmithing and jewellery creation at that time.  It is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated study that will appeal to collectors and lovers of social history alike.

fig145_Marjorie-Merriweather-Post-showing-clock-MA jpeg

Fig 143 (page 162) Marjorie Merriweather Post showing her Fabergé table clock to guests at Hillwood, Washington D.C., 1960s © Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens Archives

The chapter on Mrs Post as a collector of Fabergé is revealing and one understands what type of works appealed to her aesthetically and the reasons why some offers were turned down. She certainly had a discerning eye!

 

gilesltd.com

Damir Krivenko

Damir Krivenko: For Our Time’s Sake, Strand Gallery, 32 John Adam St, London WC2, 1st June 2017 – 11th June 2017 

Damir Krivenko
Gamer

The well-known Russian artist Damir Krivenko combines 21st technology with traditional imagery to produce works that have wide appeal. They reflect a desire to shake up the past and give the viewer the opportunity to contemplate the world around them and the role technology plays in shaping our lives and future.

Damir Krivenko
Welcome to the World

www.damirkrivenko.ru 

Der Rosenkavalier

Harmony and Opulence: Erté and Der Rosenkavalier, Bonhams London, 101 New Bond Street, London W1, 22nd – 26th May 2017

Presentation of the Rose. Der Rosenkavalier, Act II

Featuring ninety set and costume designs for the famous 1980 Glyndebourne Opera production of Der Rosenkavalier this is a must for lovers of opera and the Russian artist Erté.

http://www.bonhams.com

Russian Art 1917-1932

Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932, The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1, until 17thApril 2017

As I was unable to attend I asked John Kirkwood to go on my behalf – here are his thoughts:

Boris Mikailovich Kustodiev, Bolshevik, 1920 Oil on canvas, 101 x 140.5 cm State Tretyakov Gallery Photo (c) State Tretyakov Gallery

Boris Mikailovich Kustodiev, Bolshevik, 1920
Oil on canvas, 101 x 140.5 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery
Photo (c) State Tretyakov Gallery

This exhibition to commemorate the centenary of the Russian Revolution focuses on a momentous period in Russian history between 1917, the year of the October revolution, and 1932 when Stalin began his violent suppression of the Avant-Garde.

Wassily Kandinsky, Blue Crest, 1917 Oil on canvas, 133 x 104 cm State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Wassily Kandinsky, Blue Crest, 1917
Oil on canvas, 133 x 104 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Divided into sections all the way from Salute The Leader, through Brave New World to Stalin’s Utopia, there is even a section on Fate of the Peasants.  Stalin came to power by promising to make the lives of the peasants better but once in power he ruined their lives by forming collective farms which destroyed the existing peasants’ way of life and livelihood.  All sounds a bit too familiar.

Isaak Brodsky, V.I.Lenin and Manifestation, 1919 Oil on canvas, 90 x 135 cm The State Historical Museum Photo (c) Provided with assistance from the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO

Isaak Brodsky, V.I.Lenin and Manifestation, 1919
Oil on canvas, 90 x 135 cm
The State Historical Museum
Photo (c) Provided with assistance from the State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSIZO

The post 1917 paintings are strongly nationalistic and utterly unsentimental – there is no room for doubting your allegiance to the State – but politicised as they are they remain strong and arresting images.  There are works by Chagall and Kandinsky and a room dedicated to over 30 paintings and architectons of Malevich seen together for the first time since 1932 in an exact reconstruction of the hang designed by the artist for the Leningrad exhibition that year.

Alexander Deineka, Textile Workers, 1927 Oil on canvas, 161.5 x 185 cm State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (c) DACS 2016

Alexander Deineka, Textile Workers, 1927
Oil on canvas, 161.5 x 185 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
(c) DACS 2016

 

Kazimir Malevich, Peasants, c. 1930 Oil on canvas, 53 x 70 cm State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Kazimir Malevich, Peasants, c. 1930
Oil on canvas, 53 x 70 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Photo (c) 2016, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

 

 

 

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk

Chagall and Dufy

La régate à Henley, 1930-35 Signed lower left 'Raoul Dufy' Oil on canvas 25 3/8 x 31 7/8 in, 64.6 x 81 cm Courtesy Connaught Brown, London.

La régate à Henley, 1930-35
Signed lower left ‘Raoul Dufy’
Oil on canvas
25 3/8 x 31 7/8 in, 64.6 x 81 cm
Courtesy Connaught Brown, London.

The exhibition Raoul Dufy: A Spectacle of Society at Connaught Brown (until 25th November 2016, www.connaughtbrown.co.uk) brings to our attention his skill in depicting society of the interwar period and how he concentrates on people as a group rather than individually thus creating a sense of joie-de-vivre that encapsulates the era perfectly.

La fenêtre, 1923 Signed lower right 'Raoul Dufy' Oil on canvas 36 1/4 x 28 3/4 in, 92 x 73 cm Courtesy Connaught Brown, London.

La fenêtre, 1923
Signed lower right ‘Raoul Dufy’
Oil on canvas
36 1/4 x 28 3/4 in, 92 x 73 cm
Courtesy Connaught Brown, London.

 

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Les trois acrobates c.1913-14 gouache and watercolour on paper 39.4 x 31.8 cm (15½ x 12½ in.) signed ‘Chagall’ (lower right) Courtesy of Alon Zakaim Fine Art

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
Les trois acrobates
c.1913-14
gouache and watercolour on paper
39.4 x 31.8 cm (15½ x 12½ in.)
signed ‘Chagall’ (lower right)
Courtesy of Alon Zakaim Fine Art

At Alon Zakaim Fine Art you will discover Marc Chagall “Fables” (until 23rd December 2016, www.alonzakaim.com) which shows through paintings spanning over five decades how he used recurrent themes and motifs in original and eye-catching ways which still remain fresh and engrossing to this day.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) Soleil au cheval rouge 1977 oil on canvas 88.9 x 116.2 cm (35 x 45¾ in.) signed and dated ‘Marc Chagall 1977’ (lower left); signed ‘Marc Chagall’ (on the verso) Courtesy of Alon Zakaim Fine Art

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)
Soleil au cheval rouge
1977
oil on canvas
88.9 x 116.2 cm (35 x 45¾ in.)
signed and dated ‘Marc Chagall 1977’ (lower left); signed ‘Marc Chagall’ (on the verso)
Courtesy of Alon Zakaim Fine Art

BOOK REVIEW: Going Once

Going Once: 250 Years of Culture, Taste and Collecting at Christie’s

 going-once-jacket

ISBN: 978 0 7148 7202 5

Phaidon

£39.95

 

What better way to celebrate two hundred and fifty years as a leading art business than through the two hundred and fifty objects selected for this book.  It is a wonderful survey of these remarkable sales and the high prices achieved whether for a 3,000-year-old Assyrian frieze or Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Paintings, furniture, gold and silver, sculpture, wine, even a London Routemaster bus are included.  One feature I like is that as well as giving the original sale price they also give today’s equivalent value.

 

This is a great book to dip into time and time again as there is much to learn and enjoy from it.

phaidon.com

AUCTION ALERT: Russian Imperial Glasses

Ceramics and Glass Sale, Chiswick Auctions, 1 Colville Road, London W3 8BL, October 11, 2016

A collection of Russian Royal glassware spanning major important reigns

A collection of Russian Royal glassware spanning major important reigns

This is an interesting group of Russian Imperial Glassware dating from the reigns of Catherine I (1725-1727) to Nicholas II (1868-1918).  Estimates range from £500 upwards.

 

http://www.chiswickauctions.co.uk/

FRIEZE MASTERS 2016

Frieze Masters, The Regent’s Park, London NW1 4HA, (the north-east corner of The Regent’s Park, near the London Zoo), 6th-9th October 2016

Prahlad Bubbar Ltd. Ladies celebrate Holi on a Pleasure Pavilion Leaf from an album made for Antoine Polier Attributed to Mihr Chand, with calligraphy by Hafiz Nur Ullah Lucknow, India, c. 1775-1780 Opaque watercolour and gold on paper Folio 45.5 x 62 cm; Painting 29 x 42.5 cm

Prahlad Bubbar Ltd.
Ladies celebrate Holi on a Pleasure Pavilion
Leaf from an album made for Antoine Polier
Attributed to Mihr Chand, with calligraphy by Hafiz Nur Ullah
Lucknow, India, c. 1775-1780
Opaque watercolour and gold on paper
Folio 45.5 x 62 cm; Painting 29 x 42.5 cm

 

The well-known architect Annabelle Selldorf has designed the structure for this the fifth edition of Frieze Masters and it will play host to one hundred and thirty-three leading historical and modern galleries from around the world.

BLAIN|SOUTHERN LONDON Lynn Chadwick, The Stranger, 1954, Courtesy The Estate of Lynn Chadwick and Blain|Southern, Photo: Matthew Hollow

BLAIN|SOUTHERN LONDON
Lynn Chadwick, The Stranger, 1954,
Courtesy The Estate of Lynn Chadwick and Blain|Southern,
Photo: Matthew Hollow

 

As Frieze’s Director Victoria Siddall commented: ‘The quality and breadth of work in Frieze Masters keeps it fresh and exciting each year. I am looking forward to seeing even more antiquities dealers in the fair, as well as Indian art, alongside the best Old Masters and 20th-century work. Curators play an important role in this fair as well as in our contemporary fairs, and this year we welcome Tim Marlow (Director of Artistic Programmes, Royal Academy, London) who is co-curating Frieze Masters Talks, and Toby Kamps of the Menil Collection in Houston who is presenting his first edition of Spotlight.

 Once again we will see galleries from different fields collaborate on ground-breaking presentations, as the fair continues to offer new models for looking at and collecting art.’

 

 

 

Daniel Crouch Rare Books Benjamin Read, View in the Colosseum Regents Park London, Summer Fashions for 1836. London, 1836. Image courtesy of Daniel Crouch Rare Books.

Daniel Crouch Rare Books
Benjamin Read,
View in the Colosseum Regents Park London, Summer Fashions for 1836. London, 1836.
Image courtesy of Daniel Crouch Rare Books.

 

Luxembourg & Dayan Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Untitled (mud painting), 1953-1992 Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan

Luxembourg & Dayan
Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008),
Untitled (mud painting), 1953-1992
Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan

 

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG Beauchamp-Corbet Hours, manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the Milemete workshop, mainly by the De Bois Master. England, London, dated 1328 image courtesy of Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books

Dr. Jörn Günther Rare Books AG
Beauchamp-Corbet Hours, manuscript on vellum, illuminated by the Milemete workshop, mainly by the De Bois Master. England, London, dated 1328
image courtesy of Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books

 

Mayor Gallery Ad Dekkers Relief met drie circkels 1967 Polyester, paint Ø 180 x 3 cm Ø 70 7/8 x 1 1/8 in

Mayor Gallery
Ad Dekkers
Relief met drie circkels 1967
Polyester, paint Ø 180 x 3 cm Ø 70 7/8 x 1 1/8 in

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waddington Custot Manolo Millares, Ínsula, 1967, mixed media on burlap. Courtesy Waddington Custot

Waddington Custot
Manolo Millares, Ínsula, 1967,
mixed media on burlap.
Courtesy Waddington Custot

 

Kallos Gallery Archaic Cretan Bronze Helmet, circa 650-620 BC. Credit Steve Wakeham & Kallos Gallery

Kallos Gallery
Archaic Cretan Bronze Helmet, circa 650-620 BC.
Credit Steve Wakeham & Kallos Gallery

 

Bernard Jacobson Gallery Robert Motherwell (1915-1991) Untitled (New England Elegy No.5) 1967 Oil on canvas 296.6 x 355.6 cms (116 3/4 x 140 ins) RM12608

Bernard Jacobson Gallery
Robert Motherwell (1915-1991)
Untitled (New England Elegy No.5)
1967
Oil on canvas
296.6 x 355.6 cms (116 3/4 x 140 ins)
RM12608

 

 

frieze.com/fairs/frieze-masters

The 2016 PAD LONDON

PAD LONDON, Berkeley Square, London W1, 3rd-9th October 2016

 

Matrice, Patrice, 2015 Fabrice Hyber, Vase d'Igny Pièces uniques, porcelaine Hight: 40 cm, diamètre: 11 cm Courtesy of Sevres

Matrice, Patrice, 2015
Fabrice Hyber, Vase d’Igny
Pièces uniques, porcelaine
Hight: 40 cm, diamètre: 11 cm
Courtesy of Sevres

This is the tenth edition of this Fair which combines design and art in a special way that appeals to international collectors.  Some sixty-six international galleries are taking part, including fourteen newcomers.

Christopher Duffy Abyss Horizon, 2016 High grade wood from Forest Stewardship Council managed forests and other controlled sources, glass, Courtesy of Sarah Myerscough

Christopher Duffy
Abyss Horizon, 2016
High grade wood from Forest Stewardship Council managed forests and other controlled sources, glass,
Courtesy of Sarah Myerscough

Among the latter is Sarah Myerscough who brings an exciting group of sculptural pieces to the Fair.  The Opera Gallery, also a newcomer, is bringing a display of works by Picasso and Léger as well as examples of Pop Art.

Fernand Leger Les Quatre Acrobates, 1954 Courtesy of Opera Gallery

Fernand Leger
Les Quatre Acrobates, 1954
Courtesy of Opera Gallery

Whether you are looking for an artefact from the 1st Millennium BC or the latest contemporary design PAD is the place to come to.

Nic Fiddian Green Dawn, 2016 Pendant, Blue Chrysomenlanite and 18k gold Courtesy of Louisa Guinness Gallery

Nic Fiddian Green
Dawn, 2016
Pendant, Blue Chrysomenlanite and 18k gold
Courtesy of Louisa Guinness Gallery

 

Exceptional Large Fruit Tray in Stoneware. Unique Piece. Jane Levy - Sevres Manufacture France, Sevres, dated 1939 H tray : 9 cm / 3.5 in. L tray : 69 cm / 27.2 in. D tray : 52 cm / 20.5 in. H fruits max : cm / in. Courtesy of DIDIER LUTTENBACHER , Atelier DL

Exceptional Large Fruit Tray in Stoneware. Unique Piece.
Jane Levy – Sevres Manufacture
France, Sevres, dated 1939
H tray : 9 cm / 3.5 in.
L tray : 69 cm / 27.2 in.
D tray : 52 cm / 20.5 in.
H fruits max : cm / in.
Courtesy of DIDIER LUTTENBACHER , Atelier DL

 

http://www.pad-fairs.com