Russian paintings at Stockholms Auktionsverk

Date: 16.12.2005 Source: news agency "Russian Antique"

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E. Lipgarth. A Portrait of Emperor Nicolas II. 1896. Oil on canvas. 253,0 х 173,0 cm. Sold for SEK 3,800,000 [zoom (38k)]

The oldest Swedish auction house Stockholms Auktionsverk (established in 1674) held its second specialized Russian sales on December 9. The auction featured about 150 paintings, furniture, silver, and applied art pieces. The first Scandinavian Russian sales (held in 2004) totaled impressive SEK 30,000,000. Among top-lots were 12 canvases by Ivan Aivazovsky and paintings by Leonid Pasternak (father of the famous poet Boris Pasternak).

This year, the Stockholm Russian sales included works by Aivazovsky as well. Among six auctioned works the most interesting and important was a previously unknown painting depicting Stockholm. With a pre-sale estimate SEK 2,500,000√3,000,000 (┬262,000√315,000) the landscape fetched SEK 2,500,000. The work representing the Swedish Royal Palace was created by Aivazovsky after a sketch made during his solo-exhibition in Stockholm in 1877.

Ivan Aivazovsky. View of Stockholm. Oil on canvas. 58,0 х 94,0 cm. Sold for SEK 2,500,000 [zoom (33k)]

Interestingly, up to now researchers were unaware of the 1877 Stockholm exhibition of the artist. That historical fact was unveiled by a Russian art dealer Ivan Samarin. According to the expert, among stars of the event was a model of the Alexander column in the Palace square in St. Petersburg. The model is made of bronze and rose granite and is 1.35 meter high. There are only two similar models in the world √ in the State Hermitage and in the Museum of Petersburg history. Reportedly, the auctioned column was presented to a foreign ambassador by Emperor Nicolas I. The unique lot was sold for SEK 675,000 (estimate SEK 750,000√1,000,000).

Other highlights included two works by Vasily Polenov, a ╚Portrait of Leo Tolstoi with a plough╩ by Leonid Pasternak, a suprematistic composition by Ilya Chashnik (sold for SEK 150,000), a silk box with five miniature paintings by Konstantin Somov, etc.