Antiquarian books, the outcome of the auction ..

[Евгений]

Anatoly Borovkov summarizes Russian Trading Bloomsbury.
-------------------------------------------------- -------------
October 29, during the global financial crisis, in New York was second, generally weak in selection, the auction house Bloomsbury, entitled "Russian Literature and Art" (the first was on May 21 this year).
At the auction was put up 251 the lot, mostly books and graphic sheets. As a result of the auction were sold only 47 lots, some of them in relation to Russia's market has shown good results. On these results I want to elaborate.
Over 5 000 dollars was sold to the book-album NP Feofilaktova "66 figures" 1909 edition (lot number 43). Not so long ago on the Moscow auction "Gelos" a similar book in the worst condition, but with an inscription by the artist was sold for no more than 1 000 dollars.

Читать дальше... 

Small book by Yuri Yurkuna "bad company", published in 1918, with illustrations by Yuri Annenkov's gone well for 5 000 dollars, thanks to annotations, talking about the author belonged to the gay culture and, in particular, its proximity to the poet Mikhail Kuzmin. Russia price at auction for this book today could hardly exceed and $ 500.

Sam Mikhail Kuzmin, presented at the past, the May, the auction, as the first official gay Russia, also showed good results. Three books of his stories in the publication of "Scorpio" 1910-ies (lot number 78) were sold for the same initial 5 000 dollars, and the manuscript of his work on the 22 pages already gone over U.S. $ 6 000.

But not able to sell the autograph of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov on the book of his stories and stories of 20 000 dollars (lot number 29). However, this is not the first edition autographed already fielded a year ago at Christie's auction, and also failed to sell.

It's a pity for the agitation book Vl. Mayakovsky's "story about how learned Fadei law that protects working people" co-written by Tretyakov and Adlivankin in 1924 and became very rare. It was sold for only $ 800.

Pleased with the correct price received for the full sets of journals for the "unborn" 1904-1909 (30 000 dollars) and "Golden Fleece" 1906-1909 (50 000 dollars).

Not bad looks like the sale of rare, hard cover N. Altman for materials "of the Congress of Workers and Peasants, 1919", size 44,0 x 62,5 executed in the spirit of Suprematism (lot number 199, 30 000 dollars).

But the surprise and dismay caused lot number 243 with obviously bogus, decorated as if I. Puni, with his poems and collages. For its foundation to take some old pages from an unidentified pre-revolutionary publications. They folded in half, decorated with inscriptions in gouache and watercolor, and collage using paper 1950. All this is inserted in a folded in half the back cover of the pre-revolutionary journal "World of Art", also decorated with an inscription from the collage and sealed with a block. Similar falshaki five years ago it produced died two years ago, handyman, Valery, and I had to meet them. I recently had the privilege of holding a similar fake little album - a book that brought to the consultation, entitled "Kruchyonykh, with pictures painted in oil on paper from old books, avant-garde style, is not inherent futurist Kruchyonykh. In fact, in the history of Russian avant-garde known for only one book, produced in this way. This book Varvara Stepanova "Gaust Csaba" in 1919, with its abstruse poems, written and decorated with colored gouache collages. Stepanova produced 50 copies of the book on a folded piece of newspaper Izvestia »№ 160 (424). This was her one experiment, more than anyone not repeated.

I was amazed and three pictures supposedly of the same Puni (lots № 235-237). They are made in the style of Suprematism, the sound of old postcards, letterhead, and titled "You" "I" and the third - with the image of man holding a something resembling a phallus with a Suprematist head, like that of a character that is "the head of ..." In Provenance stated that on the back of these "works" is stamped monogram I. Puni in the form of a wreath with the initials. The illustration in the catalog are clearly visible initials PP M - that is, it is more or Miturich Peter Pupkin Mitya. Rate these "masterpieces" for 5 000 dollars apiece! Thankfully, no one bought.

Now for the good. The auction house Bloomsbury announced on Dec. 4 is the third auction of Russian books, which will be presented really rare Russian avant-garde publications, among which the constructivist folder-album "Art at home" in 1925 (from 25 000 dollars) a book with collages "October in the cube" (60 000-80 000 U.S. dollars), "ABC" A. Benoit (5 000-7 000) and "ABC" Lebedev, 1925 (8 000-12 000).
http://artinvestment.ru/news/auctnew..._borovkov.html

Anatoly Borovkov, a member of the International Confederation of antique and art dealers, an expert on books and printed graphics Russian avant-garde