Auction house "Sovcom" is going to hold an auction of the domestic art of the twentieth century. THE ART NEWSPAPER RUSSIA. No. 84 September 2020.

The top lots of the auction, which will be held on the 22nd of September are the works of Maximilian Voloshin, Anatoly Nikich, Vladimir Kholuev, and the art group "Komar and Melamid"

Despite the pandemic, Sovcom Auction House does not slow down and regularly holds auctions for Russian and Soviet art once a season. On the evening of the 22nd of September, the 160th auction will take place. The vast majority of lots (218 in total) are works of the twentieth century, but the range among them is quite large - from the world of art to the classics of the "severe style" and from socialist realism to sots-art.

Traditionally, Sovcom has a strong section of the Soviet thematic picture. This time I would like to note the top lots of the auction. One of them - Anatoly Nikich's "Skiers" dating from the 1950s with an estimate of 5-10 million rubles. This painting took part in the exhibition of the Institute of Russian Realist Art "Soviet Sport" in London in 2013.

Top lots of the upcoming auction include a large-format composition by Vladimir Kholuev depicting a snow-covered Vasilievsky Spusk - "Moscow" in 1991, tentatively estimated at 1–2 million rubles. The painting tops the collection of beautiful Moscow views, collected by the organizers of the auction. Among them - "Construction of the Palace of Congresses" in 1960 by Leonid Reznitsky (100-200 thousand rubles) and "Moscow morning" in 1972 by Arkady Stavrovsky, tentatively estimated at 250-500 thousand rubles. This also includes two works by one of the founders of the OST Konstantin Vyalov. They are notable for the fact that in both cases they depict objects that are significant for Soviet Moscow and are now lost - the Dynamo stadium and the Moskva swimming pool. Dated from the late 1950s - early 1960s, large-format canvases are put up for auction with an estimate of 2.5-5 million rubles each.

From the authors of the Silver Age in the catalog of the 160th auction "Sovcom", you can find theatrical sketches by Alexander Benois and watercolor landscapes of the 1920s by Maximilian Voloshin.

In addition at the auction, you can buy numerous and various Soviet posters and unique porcelain items including the "Dancer" statuette made in the 1920s by Boris Kustodiev at the LFZ , and the “Voroshilovskie shooters group”, also performed at the LFZ in 1930s.

A total of 218 lots were put up for auction, the full catalog can be viewed on the website sovcom.ru. The auction will take place on the 22nd of September 19:00.