Nikolai Feshin's early masterpiece was first presented at a Russian auction.
We are talking about "Rasputitsa" Nikolai Fechin, it was announced the day before in the catalog of the December auction house "Russian enamel". The masterpiece of Russian impressionism of the early XX century and the top auction lot at the start of the estimated 2.9 million rubles.
According to the representatives of the auction house, the early works of Feshin very rarely appear at public tenders. Most of his heritage pre-revolutionary period master was forced to donate to museums before emigrating to the United States in 1923. Remarkable and democratic starting price of the lot - 2.9 million rubles. Nikolai Feshin is considered one of the most expensive Russian artists on the world art market. The price record for the sale of his works on foreign sites reached $ 10 million.
"On the market - both Russian and international, such a thing to meet almost impossible. At auctions and in galleries caught portraits of the 1920s-30s, the period of emigration to America. "Rasputitsa" quite could decorate the collection of any leading Russian museum, but it would look especially good in the exposition of the Museum of Russian impressionism. So it is an exceptional opportunity for private collectors to bid for it at such a price", comments Dmitry Polikarpov, a leading expert on painting and graphics at the auction house "Russian Enamel".
Particularly noteworthy is the impeccable provenance of the Feshinsky sketch, written in the first decade of the 20th century. In the early 1920s the author gave it to his former pupil, the famous painter Pavel Radimov, who helped his teacher to leave Russia. The canvas about a century was kept in the family of Radimov and his descendants and at the auction was the first time.
"The owners have brought us along with the work an interesting historical document that sheds light on the dramatic story of Feshin's departure abroad. It is a letter requesting permission to leave for the United States with part of the work. The works were not allowed to leave, and Feshin left them to museums and his friends - he presented them to some and sold them to others. It was under these circumstances and was Feshin's friend and student Pavel Radimov sketch "Rasputitsa," - said the expert.
At the moment the largest collection of works by Nikolai Feshin is stored at the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan, the birthplace of the artist. The museum is actively involved in the preservation and popularization of the heritage of the famous pupil of Ilya Repin. Last year there was a large joint exhibition of the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Tretyakov Gallery to mark the 140th anniversary of the artist. According to experts, the landscape exhibited at the auction is published in the catalog, timed to the anniversary.
