Ahead of Sotheby's and Christie's: a two-meter canvas by Kustodiev was put up for auction ARTinvestment.RU
The auction house ARTinvestment.RU ends the season with auction No. 510, which starts this week and ends with trading on December 15, 2023 at 12.00. The main top lot of the collection is the two-meter canvas by Boris Kustodiev “Skating. White Nights" (1916). Among the authors of the auction works: Alexander Benois, Alexander Bogomazov, David Burliuk, Nikolai Dubovskoy, Konstantin Korovin and other leading names in Russian art.
Museum level masterpiece Boris Kustodiev “Skating. White Nights" - a large-format canvas measuring 89,2 x 196,3 cm, dating from 1916, is an example of an unusual subject for the artist. Instead of flowery peasant festivities, fairs, merchant tea parties, “big-eyed” chintz and the “fight of colors” with which Kustodiev’s work is usually associated, we see elegant gentlemen and ladies in magnificent outfits, riding on a warm summer night in open carriages. Perhaps, returning from some holiday, they decided to ride a circle or two around the pond. The barely outlined silhouettes of the carriages on the far bank of the reservoir close the composition, filling it with the dynamism of the carts moving in a circle towards each other.
Boris Kustodiev paints this scene, which takes place on a summer night, in all shades of blue, green and emerald. In the twilight of the night, ladies in light dresses and tall hats decorated with fresh flowers appear as white airy visions.
The work “Skating. White Nights" is close to the aesthetics of the creative association "World of Art", of which Boris Kustodiev has been a member since 1910. The painting is permeated with a nostalgic feeling, longing for the irretrievably departing noble era, of which the author of the painting himself was a part. The year the work was written, 1916, one might say, on the eve of the revolution, only intensifies this feeling.
Egor Molchanov, head of the portal and auction ARTinvestment.RU:
“Boris Kustodiev is one of the most sought-after Russian artists. In 2012, his painting “Carrier” was sold for more than 7 million dollars, which allowed Kustodiev to enter the top 20 most expensive Russian painters. For the first time, both at international and Russian auctions, a painting by Kustodiev of this size appears. Considering the unusual subject matter, the date of creation, the impressive size and museum level of the painting “Catagne”, the work is of interest to both collectors and investors. As you know, masterpieces always rise in price faster than ordinary works, so for those who are looking for where to invest their free funds, this is the chance of the year.”
A work by one of the main Russian avant-garde artists is also available at the ArtInvestment.ru auction Alexandra Bogomazova – “Pasture” (1915) – it belongs to the best period in the artist’s work and reveals his searches in cubo-futurism.
Canvas presented at auction “Mrs. Burliuk in her garden” (1940s) by David Burliuk - artist, poet, “father of Russian futurism”, one of the founders of the artistic group “Jack of Diamonds” and the literary association “Gilea”. Being at the center of Russian artistic life in the 1910s, he stood at the very origins of the Russian avant-garde.
You can view all auction lots on the website:
https://auction.artinvestment.ru/
Source: press release ARTInvestment.ru
