Shapiro Auctions' upcoming 21-22 March auction will feature over 700 exceptional artworks, antiques and furniture, representing a range of works from around the globe. From Russian nonconformists and Asian fine arts to modern American paintings and more, the broad range of offerings in this auction will intrigue collectors across many fields. The first day of the auction, 21 March, is dedicated to Russian art and antiques, a core specialisation of Shapiro Auctions, while the second day, 22 March, contains works by well-known artists and makers of all nationalities and regions, including European, Asian and Latin American.
A key highlight of the Russian day of the auction is lot 1, a work by Petr Geller (Russian, 1862-1933), The Tsar Ivan IV and the Hermit Nicolas Salos (Episode of the Expedition of the Tsar Ivan, the Terrible, to Pskoff), from 1894, estimated at US$20,000-30,000. The work was created by the artist in 1894 and is among Geller’s largest and most famous works, depicting an episode of Ivan the Terrible’s expedition to Pskov in 1570.
Numerous works by the influential futurist artist David Burliuk are represented in the auction, along with a major piece by the mystical Russian artist Nikolai Roerich, Secrets of the Walls (1920), estimated at $500,000-700,000.
Other artists of note in the Russian part of the auction, include David Shterenberg, Alexander Archipenko, Leonid Purygin, Martiros Saryan, and Komar and Melamid, and many more. The Russian day is comprised not only with paintings, but is replete with silver, enamel, Faberge and important decorative works, an example of which is lot 255, 'An Impressive 28-piece Russian Gilt Silver Presentation Drinking Set', estimated at $250,000-350,000 and which was presented by the Czar or Russia to Captain Joseph Wiggins, F.R.G.S. Siberian Explorer, in 1894.
The second day of Shapiro's auction, 22 March, is focused on American, European and Asian art and antiques. There are numerous highlights, including lot 607, an impressive Cartier citrine, onyx, chrysoprase, silver, and diamond 'Mystery Clock' circa 1970s, estimated at $200,000-300,000.
As in previous sales, Shapiro Auctions’ 22 March sale will include an impressive array of Vietnamese, Burmese, and Thai artists. Lot 548 from Le Pho, 'Vase Bleu Avec Bouquet du Fleurs', estimated at $25,000-35,000, is a prime example of the highly sought-after Vietnamese artist’s floral still-lifes.
Shapiro will also be selling many European artworks and antiques on the 22 March, such as in the offering of Das Werk von Gustav Klimt (est. $20,000-30,000), a portfolio of fifty richly-printed collotype plates by Gustav Klimt, including ten stunning colour plates. This was the only monograph on Klimt published in his lifetime, and each plate bears a distinctive gold signet designed by Klimt himself. Old masters and 19th-century European portraits and scenes by artists, such as Eugene Pierre Francois Giraud and Pierre Louis Joseph de Coninck, complement the sale, along with bronzes by Salvador Dalí, Ernst Seger and Francisco Zuniga, among others (who, while not European, is highly sought after for his distinctive portrayals of peasant women).
While there are many other highlights to view in Shapiro’s two-day auction, one should definitely pay notice to the works consigned to the auction by the descendants of Eric Cohn, who was a prolific patron and collector of German Expressionism and German painting in general. Cohn had emigrated from Poland to the US before the Second World War, where he became a rich factory owner, and President of the noodle and matzoh manufactory 'A. Goodman & Sons'. In the US, Cohn was instrumental in aiding the careers of artists such as George Grosz, Kathe Kollwitz and Paul Kleinschmidt. Three works by Leopold Gottlieb, as mentioned above, originate from this esteemed collection. In addition, two works by Paul Kleinschmidt from the Cohn collection are also included in the auction (Lot 682, Landscape, from 1939, $15,000-20,000, and Lot 683, Der Baum, from 1927, estimated at $30,000-40,000).
