- 164
Oleg Vassiliev
Estimate
120,000 - 180,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Oleg Vassiliev
- Artists in New York
- signed in Cyrillic, titled in Latin and Cyrillic and dated 1991 on the reverse
- oil and mixed media on canvas
- 165 by 256cm, 65 by 100in.
Provenance
Collection of the artist, New York
Blomqvist auction house, Oslo, 2004
Acquired from the above by Morten H. Kielland, Geneva
Blomqvist auction house, Oslo, 2004
Acquired from the above by Morten H. Kielland, Geneva
Catalogue Note
Artists in New York is one of Vassiliev’s most important post-emigration works, the major crossover piece that links East and West showing the artist, for the first time living in the West and the effect of such a move on his psyche.
He discusses the work in his 1991 interview with Margarita Tupitsyn prior to a personal exhibition with Erik Bulatov at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York. To the question as to whether the painting is about its kaleidoscopic richness or the limit-setting planes, Vassiliev response is ‘No. I am not saying 'enough', rather, I’m saying 'Yes'. Life in New York is strikingly diverse and heterogeneous, it has room for everything, and everyone sees it in his or her own way. The construction I used allows me to juxtapose these diverse aspects of life, opening up different spaces. In the construction itself, I tried to convey the summarized image of this space’
The artist’s son, Alexei described how the four characters in the central section of the painting are the artist himself, Kira Vassilieva, Natasha Bulatova and Phyllis Kind, the New York Gallery owner with whom Vassiliev had a contract in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Natasha and Erik Bulatov later recalled that the central section of the painting was from a photograph taken by Bulatov himself, hence the empty chair and champagne flute.
According to Alexei Vassiliev, the characters arranged around the panels are the workers, electricians, carpenters responsible for the hanging of the exhibition though Bulatov felt these were simply ‘New York types’. The central setting is at Phyllis Kind’s out-of-town house whilst the remainder is Greenwich Village, and more specifically Phyllis Kind Gallery.
He discusses the work in his 1991 interview with Margarita Tupitsyn prior to a personal exhibition with Erik Bulatov at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York. To the question as to whether the painting is about its kaleidoscopic richness or the limit-setting planes, Vassiliev response is ‘No. I am not saying 'enough', rather, I’m saying 'Yes'. Life in New York is strikingly diverse and heterogeneous, it has room for everything, and everyone sees it in his or her own way. The construction I used allows me to juxtapose these diverse aspects of life, opening up different spaces. In the construction itself, I tried to convey the summarized image of this space’
The artist’s son, Alexei described how the four characters in the central section of the painting are the artist himself, Kira Vassilieva, Natasha Bulatova and Phyllis Kind, the New York Gallery owner with whom Vassiliev had a contract in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Natasha and Erik Bulatov later recalled that the central section of the painting was from a photograph taken by Bulatov himself, hence the empty chair and champagne flute.
According to Alexei Vassiliev, the characters arranged around the panels are the workers, electricians, carpenters responsible for the hanging of the exhibition though Bulatov felt these were simply ‘New York types’. The central setting is at Phyllis Kind’s out-of-town house whilst the remainder is Greenwich Village, and more specifically Phyllis Kind Gallery.