“I’m feeling pretty optimistic,” commented fine art auctioneer Gene Shapiro going into his April 23 Russian art auction conducted at the Metropolitan Pavilion. “Things are getting back to the way they were, buyers are aggressively going after the better pieces.” His foresight proved true, with active bidding seen throughout the evening.
“For a while, people thought anything Russian was going to bring a lot of money. It’s not like that anymore,” says Shapiro. “Now, they are only going after the better pieces, and they are being aggressive for the pieces they want.”
Sandwiched between two auctions featuring Russian art, one the previous day at Sotheby’s and followed by a sale at Christie’s, Shapiro had a good crowd on hand for the auction and the usual large number of telephone bidders, including numerous European clients.
The auction got off to a quick start with Alexandre Altmann’s oil on canvas “View of the Harbor,” 1908, selling at $18,000, followed by Mikhail Vasilievich Boskin’s “The Market at St Sergius Monastery” going out at the high estimate of $12,000.
Shapiro sells his art in alphabetical order by artist’s name, so it was not long before one of the favorite of the Russian American artists crossed the block, David Burliuk. The first of the Burliuks to sell was a “quintessential Burliuk floral,” according to Shapiro. It is a classic image of a vase filled with flowers, positioned on a table in front of a window depicting ancient ruins, with a book titled A Vienna Treasure in the foreground and the inscription “To see her is a picture, to hear her is a tune, to know her an intemperance, As innocent as June” below it.
Bidding on the lot was brisk, with it selling at high end of the estimate, bringing $54,000.
“Burliuk has become a specialty for us,” stated Shapiro. “Woman in Red Scarf” was another of the lots to do well, selling above estimate at $42,000; “Cow with Girl” also exceeded estimate at $36,000, “An approach of a Thunder Storm” brought $30,000, and a small floral still life went out at $27,000.
The top lot of the auction came as a large oil on canvas by Klavdi Lebedev, titled “Boyarina,” was offered. Lebedev was celebrated for his historical and genre compositions featuring themes of Russian history of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. He was especially well known for his paintings of the lives of the Boyars.
Provenance listed the painting as purchased in Paris, circa 1937, by Leon Leonidoff, the chief producer of Radio City Music Hall, and remaining in the family until now.
Estimated at $60/80,000, the painting, measuring 33 by 40 inches, was bid to $180,000, selling to a private European client on the telephone.
“Sortie” by Gregory Gluckmann, a Russian artist who worked for a couple decades in California during the 1940s and 1950s, also attracted a great deal of attention. “He’s hot, and remains hot,” commented Shapiro of the artist, who is highly collected in Russia. “Even as prices have fallen for many artists, there is no stopping people from actively seeking his work,” said the auctioneer.
The dark painting of a gentleman in a top hat and top coat, depicted amid several elegantly dressed women, was bid on by a host of Russian collectors and the trade, but in the end it sold to an American buyer at $37,200.
“Cagnes-sur-Mer,” an oil on canvas by Boris Grigoriev, was another lot to capture the attention of buyers, selling to the telephones at $45,600.
Another of the lots to soar past estimates was Vasily Maksimovich Maksimov’s oil on board “The Reading Lesson.” The 17-inch-square painting, estimated at $18/25,000, was actively bid, with it being knocked down to a bidder in the gallery for $33,600.
“Still Life with Pipe, Glass, Hat and Vase” by Vasili Shukhaev, signed lower right “V. Choukhaeff,” sold at $26,400, while “The Dance” by Sergei Soudeikine went out at the high end of estimates at $36,200.
An unusual Modernist work by Leopold Survage titled “La Ville,” 28 by 13 inches, attracted a good deal of attention, selling between estimates at $96,000.
The auction featured fewer Russian contemporary works than Shapiro has included in the past; however, the handful offered did very well with some far exceeding their estimates. “Old Russian art retains its value,” he said. “It didn’t drop as much as the more contemporary items, but contemporary buyers are still hot for very good contemporary pieces.”
Citing one example, Shapiro pointed to a Juliy Vedernikov oil on canvas, “The Latest News,” 1986, that depicted men with newspapers proceeding past a crowd. “He is not well known at all,” stated the auctioneer in regard to the artist. Estimated at $3/4,000, Shapiro was somewhat surprised by the $13,200 sale price, stating, “People really liked this painting.”
Shapiro announced that his auctions will be “delving into other areas of the European art markets.” This auction featured two works by Polish artist Eugeniusz Zak, both of which attracted a huge deal of attention. “We had several bidders in the crowd and numerous phone bidders for each of the paintings,” said the auctioneer. Five of the telephone bidders were clients from Poland.
“Polish art is doing very well,” said Shapiro. “There are lots of good Polish paintings in American collections and they are doing very well when they come out and go into auction.”
The first of the Zaks to be sold was a gouache and crayon on paper depicting a woman in a hat. Estimated at $5/7,000, the painting sold for $15,600. A smaller image of a woman in a peaked hat brought $7,800, also well above estimate.
Prices include the buyer’s premium.
Shapiro commented that his auction firm will be seeking not only works of art from Poland for future auctions, but he will be expanding into European and American art as well.
For further information, www.geneshapiro.com or 917-330-1482.
