[SergeiSK]

When Christie's experts selected works, guided, of course, potential interest to them Russian buyers, because it turned a strange mix. Plural Repin - because of the Russian pay more than all Russian, Monet, Picasso and Warhol - because the profitability of investments in them confirm all international investors, Lucian Freud paintings and sculptures of Ron Myueka - because Moscow does not already seen.

Go look at the "Paris Cafe" by Ilya Repin's not a sin to any interests of national art Muscovite. A rare thing, criticized by his contemporaries, and because at home the artist never exhibited. (above)

The next block of work - Impressionist, Modern and postwar art, which Christie's will sell at major New York auction in May. Three "Monet, Picasso, Warhol" (if the chronology), or Picasso, Monet, Warhol "(if the price record of works) - the three pillars for today's investor in the arts. Prices for works by these artists are steadily growing, and demand never decreases.

"Poplars Claude Monet painted in 1891, during the period when the veteran impressionist focused on the transfer of the constantly changing light. It is in the early 1890's Monet painted a series "Haystacks", a little later, "Rouen Cathedral". Series Topol consists of 24 canvases, all of which depict a number of old trees along the river in Giverny. The artist painted from a boat, and on several canvases at once, changing them depending on how the light from the sun. The painting, which brought to Moscow, refers to the first 13 paintings of the series, in which poplars are depicted with curved trunks. The provenance of "Poplar" - gallery of Durand-Ruel, the collection of Dr. Georges Viau, one of the few contemporaries, a collector of the Impressionists, as well as meeting the wife of one of the most celebrated collectors of the second half of the twentieth century - Arthur Sackler. canvas is estimated at $ 20-30 million .

Pablo Picasso presented the early works created in the spring of 1901 in Barcelona, ​​at the dawn of the "blue period". "Kids and Toys" written by pasty, plotted with a thick layer of paint, the color is bright, and most importantly - in the picture there is no drop sugariness or sentimentality, without which the XIX century could not depict a child. The same pattern was exhibited in 1901 at Ambroise Vollard's Paris gallery. Estimate for painting small works by Picasso - $ 5,5-7,5 million .

Andy Warhol silk-screen printing will bring on show once more. The most expensive - Self-Portrait in dark glasses 1963-1964 year, with the estimate $ 6-8 million . During the same period include the work of the series' most wanted criminals "for which the artist used black and white photos from the booklet FBI. Offender N 3 was estimated at $ 4-6 million . Christie's experts advise to pay attention to the silk-screened with images of German artist Joseph Beuys, once on the European post-war art no less dramatic impact than Andy Warhol to American. The artists met in 1979, saying that the meeting far exceeded the expectations of both. Warhol was busy working on portraits of Beuys's entire January 1980 and made 3 versions, using their own Polaroid picture. Sold as "negative" version, red on black, sprinkled with diamond grit ( was estimated at $ 2-3 million ).

Works of contemporary art at the exhibition originate mainly from the collection of Kay Saatchi, who was the wife of Charles Saatchi at the time, when he arranged a legendary exhibition "Sensation" and appeared "Young British Artists". Kay Hartenshteyn was galeristka and curator before meeting with Saatchi and marry him, participated actively in all of his famous and controversial projects. In 2001 they broke up (Saatchi is now married to the leading cookery show Nigella Lawson) and Kay returned to her maiden name. But in 2008 she again took the surname of her ex-husband. Charles was not pleased: "Saatchi - is a powerful brand in the field of art and art business. Kay also does not seem to pleased, but explains this by saying that under her maiden name nobody knows, but in brand building, it made a great contribution. Now Kay Saatchi is going to go from London to Los Angeles to continue there gallery business, and sells art objects kept in her London mansion.

"Great kid," Ron Myueka stood in her living room, a naturalistic infant fiberglass about the size of half a man. This sculpture in 1996 - the first work of Ron Myueka, his first step of the way the puppeteer "Muppet Show" on the path of great art. In 1997 another sculpture, "Dead Father", was one of the most controversial exhibits of the exhibition "Sensation" that made the glory and Saatchi himself, and the artists whom he supported (among them the popular and expensive now Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Chris Ofili) . "Dead Father" was less than human growth, this artistic technique - creating giperrealistichnye sculpture different from living people only in size, giant or miniature - the artist uses to this day. "Big kid" priced at £ 800 thousand - 1.2 million .

Works of Lucian Freud from the collection of Kay Saatchi - it's early drawings, 1940, when the artist has not approached his glorified portraits of oil, which, fixing all the unsightly details of the face and body, he seeks to capture the human essence. In small drawings on paper, the artist carefully and slowly explores all the features of nature - the outline, shape, texture. Clearly, for such meticulous work needed was a quiet destination - and Freud draws "Rabbit in the chair", or toy, or a dead little animals, "Dead monkey" and "Sleeping Cat" (pictures previously priced from £ 100 - 150 thousand to £ 300-400 thousand .). "Dead bird" already written butter, and the transfer of real actively participate color ( £ 220-280 thousand .). Painting "The smiling woman" of the late 1950's (from other private collections, £ 3,5-4,5 million ) - this is the next stage of works of Freud, more familiar to the audience.
See the graphics and paintings by Lucian Freud, and sculptures of Ron Myueka in Moscow, you can still only at the pre-auction exhibitions.

«House Spiridonov, 2-3 April

Tatiana Markina
magazine Kommersant Weekend ", № 11 (3607), 01.04.2011