On Wednesday 1 July, lovers of Russian Art will have the chance to explore an exceptional catalogue carefully thought out by expert Ivan Birr. Aguttes auction house has distinguished itself with its prestigious sales in the field, offering works by high-ranking artists and exceedingly precious cultural objects.
The flagship lot of the sale is none other than this representation of the Caucasus Mountains produced by Sattar Bahlulzade, known for founding landscape painting in Azerbaijan. A student of fine arts in Baku, the artist perfected his skills in Moscow with Vladimir Favorsky and later met Marc Chagall during his trips to Crimea. Deeply attached to his country, Bahlulzade found inspiration in the landscapes of the Caucasus. He noted, not without irony, that unlike Gauguin he did not need to travel to Tahiti, finding instead that the beauty of his native country fulfilled his artistic visions.
His art, as evidenced by this landscape, is characterised by a palette of bright colours with a vibrant touch and an indefinable expressiveness. In Bahlulzade’s work, colour acquires a musicality which reveals a spiritual vision beyond form and captures the mysticality of nature. His works are exhibited at the National Museum of Azerbaijan and in his native village, Amirjan, where there is a museum dedicated entirely to him.
This painting by Vano Meliashvili will also be presented for sale. The spiritual son of Niko Pirosmani and appreciated by certain esthetes, in his youth Meliashvili followed the wandering life of a pilgrim priest in the Caucasus mountains before settling in Tiflis. Turning his back on the revolutionary artistic movements of the time, Meliashvili inscribed his art in an ideal folklore, a simplicity that expresses the idyllic beauty of a lost paradise. The hieratic scale of the figures and restrained colour palette are dynamic and moving. The Violin Concert is part of a series of works inspired by the life of old Tiflis, with picturesque characters expressing a type of understated nobility and beauty that seems borrowed from poetry.
This monumental jam maker is signed by the largest goldsmith in Russia, the famous Peter Carl Fabergé. A marvel of both art and history, this object contains a music box that plays compositions from Georges Bizet’s Carmen. The silver body is decorated with a chiseled frieze in a strawberry motif, while the cover is topped with a sculpted putto playing a lyre. The piece bears the dates ‘1869- XXV1894 16 Februar’ as well as the goldsmith's mark ‘Carl Fabergé’.
Finally, this rare icon representing Saint John of Tobolsk will mark the portion of the sale dedicated to sacred art. The imperial family venerated this apostle from Siberia, and he was the last saint to be canonised during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II in 1916. In 1917, the Countess Anastasia Vassiliévna Henrikov, bridesmaid of the Empress, freely followed the Tsar's family to exile in Tobolsk. In recognition of her loyalty to the Tsar, she received this icon from the Empress shortly before Bolsheviks separated them. On the back of the icon, Alexandra Féodorovna drew a cross and the hopeful words ‘Save and protect 29.X.1917’.
The Russian art session will take place at Aguttes on 1 July at 2:30 p.m. The catalogue is available online, and the presale exhibition will be held in Neuilly-sur-Seine, by appointment only. Amateurs and seasoned collectors alike can appreciate the quality and diversity of the works on offer, and bids will be accepted both in the auction room and virtually.
