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Issues of 2008
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The Rostropovich — Vishnevskaya collection at Sotheby's London
Sotheby’s London has announced that it will offer for sale The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Collection of Russian Art on Wednesday, September 19, 2007. The sale is entirely devoted to fine and decorative Russian Art from the 18th to the 20th centuries that formed the contents of the Paris and London apartments of recently deceased internationally renowned cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife Galina Vishnevskaya, the famous Russian soprano. These works come to sale following a decision taken by the couple to auction their collection and relocate to Russia. The unprecedented sale of their collection will be held in Sotheby’s London salerooms and is estimated to realise in excess of £3 million. Commenting on their move to Paris and building their collection of Russian Art, Madame Vishnevskaya, said: «When we were forced to leave Russia in 1974 we had to abandon everything; all of our property was left behind in Russia. We left, quite literally, without a penny to our name. Everything we owned remained there. When we left — Rostropovich with a cello and Kuzya, a Newfoundland dog, and I with two suitcases and two children — we had to build our lives all over again from nothing and when in 1978 we were stripped of Russian citizenship, we bought the flat, which we have lived in for all these years. The flat which we decided to turn into a Russian house is still there today».
«We used to buy things from countries all over the world… I love porcelain. Russian porcelain is somehow special. I can instantly distinguish it from other types — if there are several beautiful objects displayed together I immediately pick out a Russian work, I can see it as though I have been familiar with it since childhood… It is interesting when I look back and remember when and where I bought something, what impressions I had when I first saw it. It warms the soul, recalling what life was like before and makes you think about what will be left after us». The decision to sell the collection was a mutual one, taken by Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya together. «We wanted the precious items that we had collected with such love over the years to be obtained during our lifetime by real connoisseurs and people who loved Russian art and Russian antiquity. We hoped that these works of art would be acquired by people who love and appreciate them, people to whom these objects speak». Discussing the historic sale of The Rostropovich — Vishnevskaya Collection of Russian Art, Jo Vickery, Senior Director and Head of Sotheby’s Russian Department in London, said: «The collection of Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya — two of the 20th-century’s most talented musicians — was very much a part of their lives and reflects their love of Imperial Russia. We are truly honoured to be able to offer it for sale. The auction is the first major single owner collection of fine and decorative Russian Art I have had the privilege to handle, and it comes to auction at a landmark moment in the evolution of the international market for Russian Art». Maestro Rostropovich and Madame Vishnevskaya worked with many of the great composers of the twentieth century, including Prokofiev and Shostakovich, whose two cello concertos were written for Rostropovich, and Britten: the cello suites and «Cello Symphony» were written for Rostropovich and the «War Requiem» was composed for Madame Vishnevskaya. Although she was unable to perform in the premiere, she featured in the first recording of Britten’s great work. The Collection The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Collection comprises more than 350 lots of fine and decorative Russian works of art from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The diversity of works in the sale range from paintings, porcelain figures, plates and vases, through to ivory caskets, glass and portrait miniatures which vary in estimate from £150–200 up to £800,000–1,200,000. By focusing their collecting on pre¬revolutionary Russian Art, master musicians Mstislav Rostropovich and Galina Vishnevskaya — who put their collection together over a period of 30 years — were able to recreate Imperial Russia in their residences. Pictures One of the major highlights of the collection is a tempera and oil on canvas painting by Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich (1874–1947), entitled «The Treasure of the Angels». The work, which was completed by the artist in 1905, is a monumental painting in Byzantine icon style reconceived in Post-Impressionist terms and depicts the Holy city located in Northern Russian hills. The painting, which was purchased by the couple in 1998 at Sotheby’s for £287,500, is estimated at £800,000–1,200,000. Among the Imperial portraits in the sale, one of the most noteworthy is a handsome equestrian portrait of Grand Duke Petr Fedorovich (1728–1762), later Tsar Petr III, by Georg Cristoph Grooth (1716–1749), one of the finest European masters working at the Imperial Court during the first half of the 18th century. Petr Fedorovich’s rule was weak and unstable, lasting a mere six months in 1762 before he was ousted from power by a coup led by Count Orlov, the lover of his wife, Catherine the Great. Another version of Grand Duke Petr Fedorovich on Horseback is known to exist and hangs in the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. The oil on canvas is estimated at £40,000–60,000. Further important works highlighting the paintings in the collection include the oil on board «Boyar’s Serfs» by Sergei Vasilievich Ivanov (1864–1910), which is estimated at £40,000–60,000, and Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin’s (1876–1942) oil on canvas «The Hunt», which is estimated at £120,000–180,000. Representing one of many works in the sale that relate to the theatre is a watercolour and gouache over pencil on paper set design for «Apollo and Daphne» by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870–1960), which is estimated at £15,000–20,000. Porcelain
The collection showcases porcelain produced by the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory shortly after it was founded in 1744, through to 1920s when it was renamed the State Porcelain Manufactory, as well as by the vast array of private manufactories operating in Russia in the late 18th and 19th centuries, including Gardner, Popov, Novaya, Kornilov, Kuznetsov, Gzhel and Yusupov. Among the highlights are two porcelain soup plates from the Order of Saint George Service, Gardner Manufactory, late 18th¬century. The Francis Gardner Porcelain Manufactory was set up by an Englishman, of the same name, who had been successful in banking in Moscow. The Gardner Manufactory quickly established a reputation for fine porcelain. The off-white colour of the porcelain was not unlike that of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory produced in the mid 18th century, and it was not long before the works came to the attention of Catherine II (1762–1796). She commissioned four dinner services decorated with the Imperial Orders of Saint George, Alexander Nevsky, Vlaadimir and Saint Andrew, which effectively established the Manufactory’s international reputation. The Order Services were used once a year at the Winter Palace, where the Knights of the orders dined on the feast days of their saints — the tradition of using them on feast days was maintained up until the reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855) — with the exception of the four years of Paul I reign (1796–1801). Both lots, each estimated at £10,000–15,000, still bear the Winter Palace inventory numbers. A group of six porcelain plates from the Yusupov Service, Arkhangelskoe porcelain manufactory, dated 1820s, is also included for sale. Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was involved in the production of porcelain throughout his lifetime and held the positions of Director of the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory, and senator and head of the Department of Manufactories. In 1814, he founded the Yusupov Porcelain Factory on his estate at Arkhangelskoe, which in contrast with other private porcelain factories clearly produced articles destined for the aristocracy. The porcelain was never sold but served as gifts to members of the Imperial and Yusupov families and to their circle of friends. Arkhangelskoe was not strictly a manufactory, but an atelier or studio, where the imported white porcelain from Sevres, Limoges and Popov was decorated. The six plates are finely painted with flowers and each pair is estimated at £15,000–20,000. Additional porcelain highlights in the sale include an Imperial Porcelain Manufactory military plaque, period of Nicholas I (1825–1855), dated 1841, which is finely painted with a landscape scene of a military parade of officers (estimate £50,000–70,000) and an Imperial Porcelain Manufactory Kovsh, dated 1913 (estimate £40,000–60,000). Glassware Many of the goblets from the glassware in the collection are engraved with Imperial cyphers and portrait busts for Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine, for example, a rare Russian Goblet engraved with a monogram for Catherine II beneath Imperial Crown, Russia, circa 1790, which is estimated at £4,000–6,000. The majority of glassware offered for sale spans from the 1760s through to the early 19th century and was made in the St. Petersburg Glassworks. Enamelware The Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Collection also boasts a remarkable collection of early Russian enamel works of art, which mostly date to the late 17th century and were made in the town of Veliki Ustiug. The town was conveniently located on the main trade route between Moscow and Archangel and thus supported a flourishing population of tradesmen. The earliest example of cloisonnÊ enamel can be traced back to the 12th century in Cyprus. By the 17th century the designs and colours grew more varied and intense. The works were intended for everyday use, rather than for ceremonial life at court, and were thus usually made from copper alloy. Typical examples include those offered for sale, for example: ink pots, desk ornaments, boxes and caskets. The traditional Ustiug colours are yellow, green and light and dark blue on a white ground. One of the most important examples is a copper alloy and cloisonnÊ jewellery casket, Veliki Ustiug, late 17th century, which is estimated at £10,000–12,000.
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