Lot 513

Silver & Enamel Tryptych of St George,with St Nicholas the Miracle Worker, & Alexei the Metropolitan of Moscow.

St George & the dragon are the emblem of Moscow, and signify victorious.

This unique Tryptych was  most probably intended for ceremonial presentation to the Emperor Nicholas 11.

The art of enamelling is part of Russian national culture, and the colours remain fresh & vivid.

MacDougall`s breathtaking selection of Icons, sacred images of Faith, mystical & redolent of Symbolism, feature gilding and jewels, & the finely drawn faces show their Spiritual qualities. These works of Art have been cherished for many generations.

 

MacDougal`s Russian Art Auctions 1st December 2011.

30A Charles 11 St . St. James. SW1Y

LOT No. 14.

“The Merchant`s Wife” by esteemed early 20th century  Russian painter, Boris Kustodiev. One of Russia`s best known artists.

A figure in the “World of Art” movement, he was famous for his paintings, often in vibrant colours as in this painting, that illustrated the Russia of his memories,that idealised his homeland…… a sort of “heimweh”…….. before the Russian Revolution.

A depiction that appealed to Western collectors, also.

Boris Kustodiev`s works are present in several Russian Museums including Russian Art Museum in Kiev.

Lovely women from the Russian Intelligentsia modelled for Boris Kustodiev, & we can imagine them all drinking tea together, which was a social ritual. This painting from 1923, depicts a  beautiful “merchant`s wife”, in her stylised “Russian” embroidered shawl,  in an idyllic setting by the sea,  overlooking the towers of the Orthodox Church, & is typical of a series of paintings that Boris Kustodiev accomplished over the years. An evolving dream of his memories………….

NEW YORK 1924

The Merchants Wife was presented at the celebrated Russian Art Exhibition at the Grand Central Palace in New York, in 1924, organised by Igor Grabar & Sergei Vanogradov. The painting was bought by a Private Collector, & not seen again until it was sold at Sothebys in 1998.

This a rare opportunity to acquire a painting by an important figure of early 20th century Russian Art.

Sumptuous catalogue for Prada’s  gorgeous jewellery collection.

As Elizabeth Taylor’Legendary Heritage jewels  are auctioned by Christies New  York

13-15 . Dec .11

Prada bijoux presentation coffret in ruby velvet

Swarovski crystals decorate this   ‘mini minor’, seen in  Harrods menswear dept.

Prada . Cruise 2012. Sloane St. London

PRESS RELEASE

GAGOSIAN GALLERY, LONDON W1K 3DE

GALLERY HOURS:                                Mon–Sat 10:00am–6:00pm

MANZONI: Azimut

Thursday, 17 November 2011–Friday, 6 January 2012

Opening reception: Wednesday, November 16th, from 6 to 8 pm

Following the acclaimed exhibition “Manzoni: A Retrospective” inNew Yorkin 2009, Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present “Manzoni: Azimut” at theDavies Streetgallery in London. Organized in cooperation with the Fondazione Piero Manzoni, the exhibition celebrates the work of Manzoni and fellow artists during the brief life of the Azimut gallery in Milanfrom 1959 to 1960.

On December 4 1959, Azimut opened, in the basement of a furniture store on a narrow street around the corner from La Scala in Milan, with an exhibition of Manzoni’s most radical work to date: Linee (Lines), drawings of a single line on a length of paper, signed, rolled up and sealed in a cardboard tube, which he then labeled. A youthful, experimental exhibition space that lasted just eight months, Azimut presented thirteen exhibitions and became a nerve center for an international set of provocative young artists. The founding of the gallery by Manzoni and Enrico Castellani, with the help of their mentor Lucio Fontana, followed their collaboration on Azimuth, a journal dedicated to the “development of the newest and youngest avant-garde painting.” Featuring works by Robert Rauschenberg, Heinz Mack, Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, and others, the two issues of Azimuth stand as essential documents of a radical “new conception” of painting at the end of the 1950s.

The exhibition “Manzoni: Azimut” brings together pivotal examples of Manzoni’s serial Achromes, Linee, Uova Scultura (Egg Sculptures) and Corpi d’Aria (Bodies of Air) with early experimental paintings by his friends and collaborators in the Azimut project Enrico Castellani, Agostino Bonalumi, Dadamaino, and their guide Lucio Fontana. It is accompanied by a comprehensive publication by art historian Francesca Pola that tells the story of the Azimut/Azimuth project and includes facsimiles of the journal with new English translations.

Piero Manzoni was born inSoncino,Italy, in 1933 and died inMilan in 1963. His brief career was one of the most radically inventive of the twentieth century, producing a body of work that continues to challenge the definitions of artistic sovereignty and virtuosity. His work is represented in public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tate Modern,London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome; and Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin. It has been the subject of numerous international exhibitions, including retrospectives at the Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris (1991), Herning Kunstmuseum (1991), Castello di Rivoli,Turin (1992), Palazzo Reale (1997), Serpentine Gallery,London (1998), and MADRE,Naples (2007). The 2009 Gagosian Gallery exhibition, curated by Germano Celant, was the first comprehensiveU.S. retrospective of Manzoni’s work.

For further information please contact the gallery at london@gagosian.com

Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York`s HQ, Kings Road, Chelsea London SW3 4SQ,

opens Gesamtkunstwerk: New Art from Germany 18 November 2011.

AVANTGARDE

GESAMTKUNSTWERK: New Art from Germany Showcasing 24 artists , most of whom have been little seen in the UK.

Their work including sculpture,painting,drawing & installation, ranges from the grotesque & macabre to the lyrical & surreal, reflecting the

diversity of German art now.

WAGNER.

Perhaps best known for its Wagnerian associations, the word “Gesamtkunstwerk” can be translated as a total, ideal or universal work of art, or as a synthesis of different art forms into one all-embracing unique genre.

As such, many works in this exhibition reflect on the boundaries of art,in terms of perception of it & its relationship to other disciplines. If their work points to a new kind of Gesamtkunstwerk it is one in which high & low culture, the avantgarde & the historicalthe everyday & everything in between can co-exist.

POST WAR GERMANY

Running through the exhibition is an inherent reference to another quasi-Gesamtkunstwerk, the baggage of post-war German visual culture & the work of earlier generations of German artists, from the Expressionists to Joseph Beuys,Anselm Kiefer, Martin Kippenberger, Rosemarie Trockel, Gerhard Richter, & Franz West, with whom many of the artists in this exhibition seem to be in conversation.

Courtesy Saatchi Gallery.

Georg Herold

Untitled   2010

Batten, canvas, lacquer, thread and screws

120 x 420 x 165 cm

Image courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London

© Georg Herold, 2010

During a week when the Euro zone was in total disarray………………………

& news channels were reporting dire situations direct from Athens, Rome, Berlin & Paris…………..

In London they were investing……….Big Time…………..in Chinese Heritage Ceramics & Carvings.

£8.000.000 hammer for an antique Chinese ceramic vase auctioned at Bonhams Bond Street. …………….

As Collectors invested in Heritage Chinese Porcelain & Carvings……………

A spectacular week for Bonhams, Christies & Sothebys the leading London Auction houses as each held their marathon day long Chinese ceramics auctions commencing 8th November.

Estimates consistently beaten for the driving iconic pieces as they reached stratospherique amounts for sensational period Chinese ceramics. & exquisitely carved, in the distinctive rich amber/maroon tint, rhinoceros horn libation cups. Intricately carved ivory sculptures. & highly sought after carved ivory brush pots. Sensously carved jades- jades of every hue from white to grey to celadon, or jade. Carvings of animals or boxes with lids, pendants, etc, where pieces of mixed tones of Jade were carved to ultimum effect.

Surreal atmosphere as the 4 & 5 strong teams of collectors from the Far East competed with the battery of long distance phone bidders.

The Collector whose apartments in Paris & London I have decorated, reminds me of the symbolism of the motifs that have special significance for the Chinese collector as compared to the taste of the American or European Collector.

Pomegranates and frogs. Youths & many dragons…………..

Felicity, Health & Wealth……………..

We have selected a few of the beautiful pieces that sold well over estimate to give a feel of the rythymn of the sales.

Bonhams auction rooms were full to overflowing on thursday morning, november 10th, as lot 185 went under the hammer.

£8.000.000. hammer. A truly remarkable price for a magnificent famille rose vase, pale turquoise enamelled sgraffiato ground ,decorated with alternating exquisitely detailed pink & grey chrysanthemum & coral quatrelobed flowers, amidst dense green foliate scrolls.. Vase.19.3/4.ins hi. Tall neck flanked by a pair of horned mythical beast-head coral & gilt loop handles. Qianlong seal mark.1736-1795.

As Bonhams catalogue continues, “The Qianlong period was the zenith of the Qing dynasty technical ingenuity & creativity”.

A provenance that mentions the famous Jardine Matheson connection. And it is suspected that this vase would have come from the Imperial Palace which might explain the ultimate price paid by a buyer said to be from mainland China.

Lot 79 Christies King Street. Flamboyant 15ins wide 19th century coral carving. Hammer £120.000

Lots 97 & 98.Christies King Street, a 10 inch hi sq-sectionned parfumier & cover – & a small 7.1/2 inch hi “lotus” vase & cover.

Both in highly sought after white jade. Hammer price respectively £120.000 & £130.000.

Christies King St.lot 115. tiny 5.3/4 ins superb pr of white jade shallow bowls. Qianlong period. 1736-1795. Hammer £400.000.

Lot 187. Christies King St.A pale green & cream jadeite model recumbent buffalo. Hammer £92.000

Lots 220. 221.Christies King St.for 8ins & 9ins 19th century carved Jadeite vases & covers. Hammer £60.000, & £62.000.

Lot 319. Christies King St. Small 7.1/4.ins hi blue & white Yongzhen period (1723-1735) double gourd vase.Apparently An emperor famous in Chinese folklore which would explain a hammer price of £250.000.

Christies King St. Some chinese furniture was offered in different woods in order of preference for the Chinese,

Huanghuali, Zitan, Nanmu, Hongmu, Jichimu..

Qianlong period (17361795) Lot 285 Christies King St. Large 44.7/8 ins.hi pr. of “Zitan” wood framed dble-gourd embelished Lacquer panels. The fact that Zitan wood was used for the frames could indicate that these were items made for the Imperial family. Hammer £220.000.

My personal secret sleeper of the Christies King Street auction was Lot 406. Famille rose moulded candlestick. 17.7/8 ins.hi.

Yongzheng period. (1723-1735)

SOLD FOR A BREATHTAKING Hammer £1.150.000. (as against estimate £40-60.000)

As the week drew to a close @ Christies South Ken, late in the afternoon we were all taken by surprise as Lot 1366 an underglaze blue & iron-red-decorated small stem bowl 6.1/2.ins in diam. 18th century, estimated £4 – 6000 sold hammer £480.000.

Amongst the splendid pieces offered for auction by Sothebys we could mention lot 73, the pair of tiny 3.5/8.ins ruby-glazed cups Yongzhen marks & period. est £60 – £80.000. Hammer £320.000.

The Sothebys catalogue mentions that “according to S.J.Vainker in Chinese Pottery and Porcelain,New York,1991, pink enamel of this type was developed in China in the final years of Kangxi`s reign and was applied by `blowing it through a bamboo tube covered with a fine silk gauze at one end.”

Sothebys lot 365 had an estimate of £50- £70.000.

Hammer price was a stunning £620.000.

Early Ming dynasty “Jun” type flower pot 6.1/2.ins hi, a rich & mottled lavender blue glaze thinning to pale olive green at the angles, on a silver inlaid wood stand.

AT ABU DHABI ART 2011. STAND C7  16-19 NOVEMBER 2011

IMAGES REPRODUCED COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS & ROSE ISSA PROJECTS

1.      CHANT AVEDISSIAN  AHRARNIA  –  “SAWT el ARAB”   (THE VOICE OF ARABS)
2.      FARHAD AHRARNIA –  “BEAUTIFUL IS THE SILENCE  OF RUINS” 1V            DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY,EMBROIDERY THREADS,NEEDLES & CANVAS
3.    FAHRHAD AHRARNIA –   “BEAUTIFUL IS THE SILENCE OF  RUINS” V11  DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY,THREADS EMBROIDERY, NEEDLES & CANVAS

http://roseissa.com/press/press-Abu_Dhabi11.htm

 

Images of a selection of some of the beautiful objects we have sourced, viewed, or that are on show in London.

Creative Team Elizabeth Bentinck.

Auction viewings. Condition reports by recognised Arts,Antiques “Vetters” can be ordered for a fee, payable in advance.

Auction attendance.

Auctions- Discretion can be assured for bidding Mandates, that are agreed by prior arrangement.

Millions don’t phase us…………..

Private Wealth Clients. Corporates.

Design & Art Galeries, Jewellery, Fashion, snapshots of divine,chic,objects, &, also, moments & impressions we desire to share with our uber-friends.

Design Personalities , & Films to add spice

for all things nice…………………

OBJECTS2DESIRE…………………..

National Lottery, dream away, here we come…………..

Image & credits:

Demetre Chiparus. Semiramis. Rare bronze & ivory Art Deco dancer.