On June 2, a collection of paintings worth a total of one billion rubles will be auctioned at the Moscow Auction House. This is a record amount. The auction is positioned as analogous to Christie’s & Sotheby’s in Russia.
Among the absolute rarities of the upcoming auction is a study by the famous Austrian modernist Gustav Klimt, “Leaning Forward, Seated and Naked.” The work was done in pencil. This is one of the preparatory sketches for the first version of the famous allegorical painting “Death and Life”. The starting price is relatively small – 5 million rubles. ($56 thousand). It will probably increase during the bidding process.
The origin of the drawing is quite curious. For a long time it was in the private collection of Klimt’s illegitimate son, Gustav Uczycki, who was born in Vienna in 1899. His mother, Maria Ucicki, born in Prague, worked as a maid in the house of Gustav Klimt, for whom she occasionally posed. from time to time. Well, as a result, her son was born. Even after Maria left Klimt, she corresponded with the artist almost until his death. The letters contain information that the artist financially helped raise an illegitimate child. Gustav Uczycki compiled a collection of works by his famous father, which included about ten paintings and more than fifteen drawings. In 1961, after his death, the collection became the property of his third wife, Ursula Ucicki. Well, then some things came up for auction.
In general, Klimt’s works rarely come up for auction. It is always an event. Last year, her painting “The Lady with a Fan” became the most expensive painting sold in Europe: it was auctioned in London for $95 million.
– Klimt’s appearance at a Russian auction is something rare. This drawing has very good provenance, its authenticity has been confirmed by experts from the largest auctions in the world,” collector, art historian and co-founder of the Moscow Auction House, Sergei Podstanitsky, told KP. – Even in this work material, the artist’s hand is visible; His style is recognizable in pencil drawing. The work was originally auctioned by the Klimt family. Six years ago, a Russian collector bought the drawing at Sotheby’s in Paris. He bought the work, brought it to Russia and now decided to sell it. On global platforms you can find 2 or 3 such drawings a year, and Klimt’s paintings are auctioned no more than once a decade. The paintings cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Graphics are more common and cheaper, but they are also in high demand.
Photo: moscow-auction.ru
– What could be the final price of this pencil drawing?
– An auction is an unpredictable business. But there is interest in the work. All items that will be auctioned are already in our showroom. Many potential buyers come. Now it is almost impossible for Russian collectors to participate in foreign auctions. Even for registration it is very difficult to collect the documents. Major European auctions do not accept Russian items; In many of them the Russian departments have closed. Which, in general, favors the internal market, which has been reactivated and is working very actively.
Among the works to be presented at the Moscow auction is Ivan Aivazovsky’s painting “Delivery of provisions to a French ship from Ischia Porto” (starting price: 100 million rubles). It could become the most expensive Aivazovsky painting sold at a national auction. There will be three more works by the famous Russian marine painter: “On the shores of Yalta”, “Morning prayer. Ai-Petri at dawn”, paired drawing “Sea Walk” (its estimate is 84 million rubles). Ivan Shishkin’s canvas “The Girl in the Pine Forest” (78 million rubles) will be auctioned. According to Sergei Podstanitsky, this is a museum-level work that can easily be presented at the Tretyakov Gallery exhibition. In addition, a large collection of works (total estimate of 37 million rubles) by Valentin Serova is a rare artist on the antiques market.
And also: the canvas “Nocturne” by Konstantin Korovin (70 million rubles), the sketch by Isaac Levitan for the painting “Vladimirka” (8 million rubles), works by Nicholas Roerich, Vladimir Makovsky, Konstantin Gorbatov, Yuliy Klever, Ivan Bilibin, Anatoly Zverev and etc.
In addition to Russian artists, works by European old masters of the 17th and 19th centuries, objects of decorative and applied arts and works of our contemporaries, for example, Zurab Tsereteli, will be present at the auction.
