19-20 May, Sotheby's will present the State Historical Museum in the top lots in London trading "Masterpieces of Russian painting and the Czech art from the collection Husky June 6-7

19-20 May auction house Sotheby's will present at the State Historical Museum of top lots of June in London trading "Masterpieces of Russian painting and the Czech art from the collection of Husky. Today, the exhibition will be shown to the press.

• Repina Portrait of Vera, the wife of the artist. 1878
  Estimate: 1-1,5 million pounds
  Source: Press Release Sotheby's

The exhibition will be on display 24 paintings by Russian artists of XIX - XXI centuries, including works by Vasily Vereshchagin , Alexander Yakovlev , Ilya Repin and Erik Bulatov . The exhibition also includes two works by Frantisek Kupka from the collection of Hasco, giving a vivid picture of Czech art in the first half of the twentieth century.

Bidding works of Russian art. London, June 2011

Bidding works of Russian Art Sotheby's will be held in London on 6 and 7 June 2011.

Top-lot trades will be painting by Ilya Repin (1844-1930) "Portrait of Faith Repina, the Artist's Wife" (1878), a recognized expert among the best in his work. For the first time I saw Vera Shevtsov Repin (1855-1918) nine years old, but a novel of faith with Repin began when she was a student at the Mariinsky Institute of noble maidens. In 1872 they were married in the year Faith was 16 years old, and Repin - 26. Young Vera could not meet her husband intellectually, but it won over its charming character, simple and direct in all its manifestations. But the relationship did not shape the young, and nine years after the creation of this portrait couple broke up. Then the couple came together again in 1894 to 1900 has finally leave. "Portrait of Vera Repin" was created in one of the most tranquil periods of their stormy relationship, he was kept in the Faith and after her death, was sold to his daughter, the only known and published portraits of Faith Repina, located outside the museum's collections.

Repin painted many times faith is the very first encounter inspired him to create a series of watercolor paintings and pencil portraits. Repin's work in these techniques today are of particular admiration, but the artist has earned international recognition is one of the greatest European portrait painters. Therefore, the appearance at auction a very personal family portrait - an important event for collectors and specialists. Painting is estimated at 1-1,5 million pounds.

Masterpieces Shipka Pass. 1878 Oil on canvas Estimate: 300-500 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

show in Moscow and some great work celebrated Russian painter Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904). These works of museum-level, not exhibited since 1900-ies, is the first time entering the market. "Shipka Pass" - one of the most expressive works Balkan Series Vereshchagin ever found in the auction. The series includes 25 paintings and 50 sketches created by the immediate impression Vereshchagin from the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. Before the outbreak of hostilities in October 1877 Vereshchagin joined the regular Russian army as a volunteer. He was not only overwhelmed with feelings of patriotism, but also motivated, as he admitted "a great desire to see firsthand the present European war." It is known that the artist was concerned about the fate of his Balkan series: the future Czar Alexander III, Grand Duke Nicholas had expressed a desire to buy it, but some works were deemed controversial, and the Prussian military attache even advised the king to buy and destroy the entire series. But everything turned out differently: five of the major works bought Pavel Tretyakov, a further five paintings and some sketches of Kiev became a sugar baron Ivan Tereshchenko, and the rest of the series after the auction in New York in 1891, dispersed throughout the world. Canvas "Shipka Pass" reflects one of the most important periods in Russian history, however the laconic treatment of the story illustrates one of the most innovative step in the artist. Painting is estimated at 300-500 thousand pounds.

Masterpieces conquest Oil on canvas Estimate: 400-600 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

Work "conquest" is also in the Balkan Series Vereshchagin and comes from a large European collection. To it is attached hand-written confirmation of the authenticity of October 15, 1904, written in Russian artist's widow. It demonstrates that the work remained the property of the author until his death in 1904, when the widow had to sell the painting for the debts. Painting "conquest" extremely interesting in its composition solution, and put it in creative tasks make it perhaps the most unusual in the Balkan Series. Estimate: 400-600 thousand pounds.

Masterpieces Taj Mahal. Evening. 1874-1876 Oil on canvas Estimate: 250-450 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

«Taj Mahal. Evening "- one of the most significant works created after the trip to India in Vereshchagin 1874-1876, respectively. It is known that the artist often painted the same kind of monument, or at different times of the day, or from different angles, trying to grasp the features of the changing lighting conditions. So there was a few images of the Taj Mahal. The smaller species from the river at the Taj Mahal in bright daylight adorns meeting of the State Tretyakov Gallery. Two more species from the garden (morning and evening) appeared in 1891 at auction American Art Galleries in New York, on the same auction for the first time was sold and the picture that will be shown in Moscow. For brightness and color intensity of the Indian series Vereshchagin far exceeds his previous works, including a series of Turkestan. Estimate of the canvas: 250-450 thousand pounds.

Ivan Aivazovsky Crimea. Shepherds a flock at sunset. 1859 Oil on canvas Estimate: 0,8-1,2 million pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

The exhibition provides a picture of Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) "Crimea. Shepherds a flock at sunset "(1859, oil on canvas). Pictured here the plot occur frequently in the artist's work. Aivazovsky wrote sheep peacefully grazing in the steppes of the Crimea and Ukraine, before clipping, bathing in the Black Sea, under heavy rain or huddled in a heap beneath the warm evening sun. Particularly common artist, fascinated by pastoral theme, returning to it in the 1870's and 80's. Aware of more than a dozen papers with a similar plot: they are kept in museums in Omsk, Irkutsk, Odessa, Ashgabat, Ulan-Ude and Chelyabinsk, one of them - "Sheep in the pasture" (1850) - is in the Tretyakov Gallery. Work "of the Crimea. Shepherds a flock at sunset "is estimated at 0,8-1,2 million pounds.

Zinaida Serebryakova Reclining Nude Oil on canvas Estimate: 600-800 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

Another top lot of upcoming auction of Russian art - "Reclining Nude» Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967). This work was acquired from the artist's family by its current owner, is one of the best large-format canvases Serebryakova appear at auction. "Reclining Nude" refers to the time of the highest take-off gift of the artist and reminds us of "Naked" by Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet: Serebryakov arrived in Paris in mid-1920's and, of course, experienced the influence of these masters. Plastic nude female form was one of the central themes in the work of the artist, but since mid-1930 it appears less and less as posing Serebrya Russian girls in Paris, by 1934 almost all were married, and to pay a professional Artist's Model it had no opportunity . "Reclining Nude" comes from a private European collection. Estimate: 600-800 thousand pounds.

Erik Bulatov winter. 1988 Oil on canvas Estimate: 60-80 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

One of two works of contemporary art at the upcoming auction - "Winter" Erik Bulatov (b. 1933). The painting was completed in 1988 - the most fruitful period in the artist. The work comes from a private collection and is estimated at 60-80 thousand pounds.

Alexander Yakovlev Beijing Opera. 1918 Oil on canvas Estimate: 0,8-1,2 million pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

«Beijing Opera" (1918) Alexander Yakovlev (1887-1938) is estimated at 0,8-1,2 million pounds. One of the most interesting of his works, written during a trip in 1918 to the Far East, it embodies the idea that only through the great past of the Chinese civilization is possible to understand modern China. Brave by promising solution composition presumably represents a scene from the opera of the XVI century Pavilion Pion Tang poet, later became one of the most famous and popular Chinese classical operas on the subject of great love.

Collection of Masterpieces of Czech Art Hasco family. June, 2011

due to the tight schedule of exhibition paintings by Frantisek Kupka brought to Moscow for one day only, they will not be displayed publicly.

FRANTIŠEK Kupka Divertimento II. 1935 Oil on canvas Estimate: 300-500 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

«Divertimento II» (oil on canvas) by Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957) - one of two presented at the exhibition of the artist with the upcoming London auction of the Czech art of the twentieth century from the collection Hasco (held June 13, 2011). Written in 1935 painting "Divertimento II» became a visible testimony to the artist's love of music, in 1909, this feeling is embodied, for example, in the "piano keys: The Lake" (National Gallery, Prague). The name "Divertimento" (lit. Entertainment ) sends the viewer to the very popular in the XVIII century light music genre. Painting literally mesmerizing combination of color and rhythm of forms that resemble dancing figures. Estimate: 300-500 thousand pounds.

FRANTIŠEK Kupka white circle. 1946 Oil on canvas Estimate: 300-500 thousand pounds Source: Press Release Sotheby's

Written in 1946 painting "White Circle" marks the culmination of creativity Kupka, one of the leaders of European abstraction in the interwar period. In 1931 the artist became one of the founding members of the Paris group Abstraction-Création. Kupka painting evolved from a characteristic of his early work to the orgy of color more coloristic restraint with the use of red, blue and yellow on a white background. His compositions of harmonious forms in equilibrium at the same time send the viewer and the art of the Futurists and the purists, and to the modern artist avant-garde architecture. As Wassily Kandinsky , Kupka was an artist-thinker who sought to draw a conceptual basis for his art. He studied the properties of color, optics, cosmology, physiology, biology and anthropology, using data obtained in his artistic experiments. "White Circle" carries different meanings: the separation and the interaction of colors, the relationship between forms and images, the relations between the firmament and the stars. Even here the dominant orange disc recalls the sunrise, its sunset over a futuristic city. This magnificent piece is estimated at 300-500 thousand pounds.

Source : Press Release Sotheby's