RUSSIAN ART
Art plays an important role in Andrew Mason’s home and his Russian pieces are particularly striking. We ask Sophie Law, a consultant for Bonhams’ Russian Department, to talk us through the appeal of Russian art
What do you think sets 20th- century Russian art apart?
Russia in the early years of the 20th century was a crucible for artistic innovation. Nowhere else in contemporary Europe was such dynamism in painting evident – it was cu!ing- edge. Russian portraiture is especially powerful because it so o"en confronts the troubling issue of self-representation and takes it further, asking the question: what does it mean to be human?
What have been the key movements in the history of Russian art?
The realism of the Peredvizhniki (The Wanderers), who exhibited from the 1870s to the 1920s; the evolving and diverse modernism of artists such as Serov, Léon Bakst, Mikhail Vrubel, Robert Falk and Natalia Goncharova; the Cubo-Futurism of the Russian Futurists and the entire movement of the Russian avant-garde.
Who are the names to know in Russian portrait painting?
In 2015, an exhibition of works by Valentin Serov (1865-1911) at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow made headlines when visitors in the long queues outside broke down the door to the exhibition hall. His 1887 portrait
Girl with Peaches (above) is instantly recognisable to every Russian, and his works achieve the highest prices at auction (when they appear – they are very rare).
Boris Grigoriev’s (1886-1939) portraits of luminaries and peasants alike embody the spirit of the individuals he portrays, while Zinaida Serebriakova’s (1884-1967) female nudes are always sought- a "er. Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) is collectable in America and Russia – his portraits of girls in Taos, New Mexico are particularly commercial.
Two Soviet artists whose works are up-and- coming on the market are Alexander Samokhvalov (1894-1971) and Alexander Deineka (1899-1969).
Are Russian portraits particularly collectable at the moment?
Yes, exceptionally so. Portraits by Fechin and Serov achieve some of the highest prices at auction and are incredibly sought- a "er. Expect to pay anything from £50,000 for a portrait by Alexei Harlamo# to millions (Falk’s portrait of E S Potechina sold at Bonhams in 2013 for £1.2m). Bonhams New Bond Street is holding The Russian Sale on 28th November.