Eduard Steinberg

Artist's statement in The Quest for Self-Expression: Painting in Moscow and Leningrad, 1965-1990, Columbus, Ohio: Columbus Museum of Art, 1990, p. 148   
Eduard Steinberg: Heaven and Earth (Reflections in Paints), State Russian Museum and Palace Editions, St. Petersburg, 2004

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has most likely never been restored. It is still on its original stretcher and although the paint layer is quite grainy, all of this is original. The paint layer may be slightly dirty yet no retouches appear to have been applied. Some cracking has developed in the upper center and also across the lower portion of the picture and although they are slightly visible, these cracks are not unstable. The cracking could be eliminated if the painting were to be lined, thus some restoration will improve the picture.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Edik Steinberg's place in the history of nonconformist art is assured as a significant link to the pre-Revolutionary Suprematist artist Kazimir Malevich and as an artist concerned with spiritual values in an avowedly secular society.

Steinberg joined the Graphics Union in 1967. Even though he had no academic training, his brilliant handling of tonal relationships, especially of creams and tan-browns, are among the most subtle of his generation. He always preferred to work with completely abstract forms, but imbued them with spiritual intent. He might suggest the separation of heaven and earth in a work through divisions of color; the lower part of a canvas surface might symbolize earth, the mid-section the Church, and the upper part heaven. He has also allowed forms to float freely in space. In these last-mentioned works the lack of strong vertical or horizontal directional movements represent the desire for the unity of the cosmos, perhaps Steinberg's ultimate theme.

The abstracted forms in his works are meant to suggest the yearning for unity with God, a connection to the universe. In the context of the thwarting of the elevation of the human spirit due to wars and governmental repression, Steinberg also sees such works as a mystical experience concerned with "the tragedy of God's abandonment of mankind."