- 278
Timur Novikov
Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
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Description
- Timur Novikov
- Skier
- signed in Cyrillic, titled and dated 1991 t.l.; further signed on the stretcher and the reverse and variously stamped with the artist's studio stamp
- acrylic on canvas
- 100 by 100.5cm, 39 1/2 by 39 1/2 in.
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in the late 1990s
Condition
Original canvas which is buckling slightly in the top left corner. There is a small glue stain to the top edge, approximately 30cm from the right edge. There is a light layer of surface dirt and some spots of dirt in places. Unframed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Neo-academism was founded by the artist Timur Novikov in St Petersburg at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. During his short life which blazed brightly like a comet, Novikov achieved at least two revolutions in art, first adopting a new aesthetic based on the avant-garde in the 1980s and founding the New Artists, he then eulogised beauty and the Classical in the Neo-academist movement of the 1990s. Combining ideas from ‘sign perspective’ and photomontage theory, which was invented in the 1920s by the Soviet filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, the artist created his own original approach. His method of re-arranging semantic perspective, and use of symmetry and a horizontal, more rarely diagonal, division of space was to become the foundation of his work. A small sign, whether a ship, a Christmas tree or a skier, placed on the surface of the fabric or canvas transforms it into a sea, a forest, a snow-covered slope.
Neo-academism began with a series of collages Timur Novikov created in 1988 and dedicated to Oscar Wilde. The beginning of Neo-academism is sometimes given as 1987, when Novikov painted Boy with a Paddle – a portrait of the artist Georgy Gurianov, parodying Stalinist garden sculpture. The concept of Neo-academism itself, as well as the New Academy of Fine Arts, appeared in 1990. The first academics were friends of Novikov, the artists Georgy Gurianov, Andrei Medvedev, Denis Egelsky. The New Academy declared its task to be the revival of classical traditions, which, according to its founder, had been lost not only by the artists of the avant-garde, but also by the official Academy of Arts, based in St Petersburg since the 18th century. In the drama Secret Cult, written in 1992 in the style of Wilde, Novikov spoke of the eternal values of art and of its lost golden age, when the ideals of beauty were accessible to the audience. Neo-academism originated within a specific historical and geopolitical context and in St Petersburg, the most European of Russian cities, famed for its Imperial architecture, museums, classical ballet. Neo-academism in its own way reflected the aesthetic tastes of the emerging middle class, the so-called New Russians. At the time of its origin Novikov referred to it wittily as ‘New Russian Classicism’. According to Novikov, the movement was called to reveal the true face of the new Russian culture which had abandoned its own distinctive nature after the fall of the Iron Curtain and its introduction to contemporary Western culture. New Russian Classicism is the great tale of opposition to the American culture of Coca-Cola and McDonald's, the reunification of high and low, mass and artistic cultures, based on the opposition of Europe and the USA.
Neo-academism was founded on the ideal image, a concept which was understood differently by each artist. In his textile collages and photomontages Novikov focused on reframing images from art history. Gurianov turned to the work of the Socialist Realist artists like Alexander Deineka and Alexander Samokhvalov. Gurianov’s protagonists are the ideal citizens of a totalitarian empire, embodying the socially-useful functions of aviator, athlete, tractor driver, naval officer. Olga Tobreluts turned to symbols of beauty from both art history and mass media. In 1993, Tobreluts created a series of computer collages entitled Imperial Reflection in which she appears as a Classical muse against a background decorated with historical images. The world of digital technology merges with the ideals of classical beauty in a utopian space symbolising the collapse of empires, the mortality of political regimes and the timelessness of architectural masterpieces.
We are grateful to Dr Olesya Turkina, curator and critic, for providing this catalogue note.
Neo-academism began with a series of collages Timur Novikov created in 1988 and dedicated to Oscar Wilde. The beginning of Neo-academism is sometimes given as 1987, when Novikov painted Boy with a Paddle – a portrait of the artist Georgy Gurianov, parodying Stalinist garden sculpture. The concept of Neo-academism itself, as well as the New Academy of Fine Arts, appeared in 1990. The first academics were friends of Novikov, the artists Georgy Gurianov, Andrei Medvedev, Denis Egelsky. The New Academy declared its task to be the revival of classical traditions, which, according to its founder, had been lost not only by the artists of the avant-garde, but also by the official Academy of Arts, based in St Petersburg since the 18th century. In the drama Secret Cult, written in 1992 in the style of Wilde, Novikov spoke of the eternal values of art and of its lost golden age, when the ideals of beauty were accessible to the audience. Neo-academism originated within a specific historical and geopolitical context and in St Petersburg, the most European of Russian cities, famed for its Imperial architecture, museums, classical ballet. Neo-academism in its own way reflected the aesthetic tastes of the emerging middle class, the so-called New Russians. At the time of its origin Novikov referred to it wittily as ‘New Russian Classicism’. According to Novikov, the movement was called to reveal the true face of the new Russian culture which had abandoned its own distinctive nature after the fall of the Iron Curtain and its introduction to contemporary Western culture. New Russian Classicism is the great tale of opposition to the American culture of Coca-Cola and McDonald's, the reunification of high and low, mass and artistic cultures, based on the opposition of Europe and the USA.
Neo-academism was founded on the ideal image, a concept which was understood differently by each artist. In his textile collages and photomontages Novikov focused on reframing images from art history. Gurianov turned to the work of the Socialist Realist artists like Alexander Deineka and Alexander Samokhvalov. Gurianov’s protagonists are the ideal citizens of a totalitarian empire, embodying the socially-useful functions of aviator, athlete, tractor driver, naval officer. Olga Tobreluts turned to symbols of beauty from both art history and mass media. In 1993, Tobreluts created a series of computer collages entitled Imperial Reflection in which she appears as a Classical muse against a background decorated with historical images. The world of digital technology merges with the ideals of classical beauty in a utopian space symbolising the collapse of empires, the mortality of political regimes and the timelessness of architectural masterpieces.
We are grateful to Dr Olesya Turkina, curator and critic, for providing this catalogue note.