A Spectacular Spring Sale

On 24 and 25 April, Shapiro Auctions will host its International Fine and Decorative art sale. This auction will usher in spring with over 900 lots spanning a wide range of categories from painting and jewellery to furniture and decorative items, from the 19th century to the contemporary.

One of the highlights of the sale is a new-to-market work by the Austrian Expressionist Alfons Walde, estimated at $200,000-300,000. The work comes from the estate of Austrian art collectors and entrepreneurs Kamillo and Aenne Koelblinger (Kölblinger), whose family has owned it for four generations. This quintessentially Waldean painting, entitled Bauernsonntag (Farmer’s Sunday), is among the artist’s most recognisable work from the 1920s and 1930s. Set against the brilliantly white snow and blue skies of the Tyrolean Alps, it depicts a pair of robust men gazing, as if mid-sentence, beyond the confines of the painting. Walde's formal rigour, from the abbreviated rectilinear figures to the limited but striking colour palette, produces an impactful high-contrast image, equally deferential to the landscape and to its admirers.

This auction features a comprehensive and varied sampling of Russian Non-Conformist painting and works on paper, including Oscar Rabin’s astounding commemorative portrait of close friend and compatriot Evgeny Rukhin, a fantastic triptych by Leonid Purygin, and many representative pieces by Oleg Tselkov, Mikhail Chemiakin, Vladimir Nemukhin, Rostislav Lebedev and Vyacheslav Kalinin. The offering is complemented by sculpture, most notably a monumental cast bronze figure by Ernst Neizvestny, and a kinetic painted wooden piece by Leonid Sokov. A large-scale still life composition by Yuri Kuper and three scenes by Natalia Nesterova are also not to be missed. 

Shapiro Auctions is one of the market leaders for David Burliuk, the inimitable and eccentric father of Russian Futurism. The ten Burliuk lots feature vibrant colours generously applied with Burliuk’s characteristically vigorous impasto. The diverse assortment, spanning several of his periods and styles, includes an homage to Burliuk’s artistic hero van Gogh (the portrait is styled as Dr. Gachet in the Night Café, now in the Yale Collection), Burliuk’s own painted easel, and a number of floral arrangements, peasant scenes and landscapes. The included portraits speak to the breadth of Burliuk’s social circle and influence: one depicts Lucy Manievich, daughter of Abraham Manievich – whose masterful streetscapes and a self-portrait are likewise presented – and another a red pencil-drawn portrait of the artist Joseph Stella (signed by sitter and portraitist). 

Eminent Russian expatriate artists are well-represented in works by the husband-and-wife duo of Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova, as well as a luminous and sought-after Marc Chagall lithograph from the 1967 Nice et la Côte d'Azur suite. 

Rounding the selection of Russian fine art is a group of three paintings by the highly coveted Social Realists Georgy Nissky, Aleksandr Gerasimov and Sergey Shishko, from the collection of prolific Ukrainian composer Yuliy Meitus (1903-1997), best known for his many operas, film scores, orchestral pieces and hundreds of songs.

A collection of works by Vietnamese-French Modernists Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam and Mai Trung Thu will also be on offer. The trio began their careers on a similar path, having started their studies at the Hanoi École des Beaux-Art l’Indochine and later moving to Paris. Though developed with an air of western Post-Impressionism, their paintings never relinquish the stunning tones and subjects of their home country. Also included are a number of works by contemporary Burmese painters. 

The sale will make available for bidding three paintings by Martiros Saryan (one dates to his exceedingly rare French period) from the estate of Levon Airapetian and another work from a private collection. Other Modern Armenian paintings by the likes of Arsène Chabanian, Georges Terzian, Leon Tutunjian and Hrair Derbekian are sure to capture attention. 

Both days of the sale will likewise feature Fabergé objets de vertu, rare Meissen figurines, a number of extensive silver and blanc de chine services, marble and bronze sculptures, antique Russian and European porcelain, timepieces and a group of 16th- to 19th-century furniture exhibited in and sold for the benefit of the Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York. 

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