RUSSIAN - Bloomsbury Auctions

Lot 235
Lot 236
Introduction
Following the highly successful inaugural Russian auction last Spring, Bloomsbury in New York is proud to offer an equally extraordinary
selection of Russian books, letters, manuscripts, periodicals, photographs, prints, posters, drawings and paintings. The imperial era
is represented by a large collection of cartes de visite, cabinet and wire photographs of four decades of the Romanov family. These are
supplemented by two rare works by Nicholas II’s poet-playwright uncle, the Grand Duke Konstantin. Tolstoy is represented by the rare
first edition of one of his plays and Chekhov by a presentation copy of a collection of his short stories he gave a waiter at the Grand Hotel
in Moscow. Other signed books include works by Benois, Erenburg, Kuprin, Sologub and Zorgenfrei. The brief period of sexual freedom
of the first decades of the twentieth century is exemplified by the androgynous woman poet Zinaida Gippius, who wrote as “Anton Krainii,”
and the Russian gay icon Mikhail Kuzmin, who created a sensation with his “coming out” novel Krylya [Wings] (1908). The niece of the
doomed poet Gumilev passed her autograph book to such luminaries as Akhmatova, Annenskii, Blok, Gumilev, Kuzmin, Meierkhold,
Remizov, Voloshin and other poets and artists to fill it in with poetry and pictures. Poetry and art came together in complete runs of the
beautifully produced journals Apollon, Vesy and Zolotoe runo. Stolitsa i usadba provided a last glimpse of the Russian aristocracy on the eve
of the Revolution; the issue devoted to the Royal Family included here was confiscated by the Bolsheviks. The evolution of Symbolism,
Acmeism, Futurism, Suprematism, Constructivism and other modern literary and art movements can be traced in other books, almanacs
and periodicals with contributions by Akhmatova, Bakst, Balmont, Benois, Chukovsky, Kandinsky, Kuzmin, Malevich, Mandelshtam,
Nabokov, and Pasternak. The galvanizing collaborative efforts of the Russian avant-garde are well represented with important works by
Burliuk, Goncharova, Kruchenykh, Larionov, Lissitzky, Mayakovsky and Rodchenko.
The flowering of Russian graphic art of the Silver Age reached its zenith in Sergei Diaghilev’s consolidation of art, music and dance—the
Ballets Russes. This company as well as the famous Russian cabaret Chauve-souris is well represented in the current sale. Both Diaghilev and
Nijinsky autographed a rare Ballets Russes programme of their American tour. Benois decorated a letter with an exquisite scene from Swan
Lake. There are also several costume designs by Benois and a handsome set design by his son Nicola for Revizor [The Inspector General].
Other art in this sale reflects the extraordinary variety and depth of Russian visual expression. Two classic landscapes by Shilder and Von
Klever contrast beautifully with modern ones by Khudyakov and Vasiliev. The versatile Sudeikin painted a delightful Pierrot in gouache as
well as a witty group of commedia dell’arte dolls in oil. The portraits include an iconic photograph of an intense Mayakovsky by Rodchenko
and a handsome painting of Nikita Baileff ’s wife Elena by Boris Chaliapin, the son of the legendary Russian opera singer. Somov’s beautiful
pastel of the grand patroness Genrietta Girshman is one of the artist’s finest studies. The proof for Altman’s dynamic 1919 Suprematist
brochure cover is known by only two copies. There is both a preliminary drawing and a proof for one of Kustodiev’s famous linocuts
glorifying the Russian peasant. Puny painted several delightful Suprematist figures in gouache on postcards and designed and assembled an
extraordinary artist’s book of collage, gouache and cut letters. There are also fine prints and posters and paintings by such important modern
Russian artists as Chekhonin, Dobuzhinsky, Goncharova, Kaplan, Larionov, Lebedev, Lissim, Pozhedaev, Ryback and Sudeikin.
Lot 237
Michael Patrick Hearn and John Larson
September 2008
Books & Manuscripts
Lot 1. AKHMATOVA, Anna (1889-1966), Osip MANDELSHTAM (1891-1938),
Vladislav KHODASEVICH (1886-1939) and others.
Liricheskii krug. Stranitsy poezii i kritiki. I [A Lyrical Circle. Pages of Poetry and Criticism. Volume.1]. Moscow: “Severnye Dni,” 1922. 96 pp. Small
8vo (200 x 140 mm). Original Constructivist wrappers designed Nikolai Kupreyanov. Condition: wrappers lightly thumbsoiled.
one of 2000 copies. With contributions by Anna Akhmatova, Leonid Grossman, Konstantin Lipskerov, Osip Mandelshtam, Sofia Parnok,
Vladislav Khodasevich, Sergei Shervisnkii, Abram Efros, Andrei Globa and others. Both Akhmatova and Mandelshtam were later persecuted
by the Soviet authorities; he died in the Gulag in 1938. Khodasevich left for Berlin where he early championed Vladimir Nabokov. He called
Khodasevich “the greatest Russian poet of our time.” Not in MoMA.
$500 – $800
Lot 1