Overview
To coincide with the 30th anniversary of Sotheby’s historic auction of avant-garde and contemporary art HELD IN MOSCOW IN 1988, we are delighted to announce an online sale dedicated to Soviet-era artists who trod the fine line between ‘official’ and ‘non-official’ art from the 1950s onwards. Several emigrated to the United States and Europe, while others continued to work underground in the Soviet Union where they would hold ex tempore exhibitions in private studios and apartments. Bold, satirical, abstract, political, engaged, escapist, witty – the Russian ‘non-conformists’ were diverse in their artistic practice and shared an anti-establishment sentiment with many of their Western counterparts, though the specific political and social context in which they were operating amplifies their underlying message of dissent.
From graphic art by Erik Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov and Francisco Infante to large-scale oil paintings by Mikhail Chemiakin and the photorealist painter Oleg Vassiliev, Sotheby’s sale features works in a variety of media from $400 to $100,000, including 38 lots from the Bar-Gera collection and a strong selection of works by Russian-Jewish artists.
Popular exhibitions in 2017 and 2018 in Paris, London and Moscow at the Centre Pompidou (Kollektsia!), the Tate Modern (Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Not Everyone Will Be Taken Into the Future) and the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Bidding for Glasnost) are testament to the enduring resonance of this period.
Highlights from the online sale will be on view at Sotheby's New York from 20 September through 24 September at 1:00 PM.
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Saturday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
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