Doorway to the 1885 Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle), which originally housed all of the Institution's collections and remains its symbol. Photo by David Bjorgen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Smithsonian to create new education center with $8M gift

Doorway to the 1885 Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle), which originally housed all of the Institution's collections and remains its symbol. Photo by David Bjorgen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Doorway to the 1885 Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle), which originally housed all of the Institution’s collections and remains its symbol. Photo by David Bjorgen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Smithsonian American Art Museum has received an $8 million gift to create an education center and says it will expand its reach to more U.S. classrooms.

The museum said Wednesday that it will create the 2,300-square-foot facility to host tour discussions, video conferences, workshops for teachers and graduate seminars. It is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.

The museum did not immediately disclose who gave the $8 million gift.

Museum director Elizabeth Broun says the center will use artworks to teach about the American experience. Part of the gift will fund an endowment to create new U.S. history and civics resources for teachers and students based on the museum’s best pieces.

Many of the museum’s education programs have focused on schools in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-30-11 1643GMT

 


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Doorway to the 1885 Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle), which originally housed all of the Institution's collections and remains its symbol. Photo by David Bjorgen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Doorway to the 1885 Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle), which originally housed all of the Institution’s collections and remains its symbol. Photo by David Bjorgen, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

Children’s Museum of Virginia to reopen in May

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children’s Museum of Virginia.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) – The Children’s Museum of Virginia is preparing to reopen after being closed for more than a year for an expansion project.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the Portsmouth museum is scheduled to reopen May 26. The museum has been closed since September 2009.

According to the museum’s website, the expansion will add nearly 12,000 square feet. The first floor is geared to children up to 6 years old. The second floor has three themes: science, the environment and art.

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Online:

Children’s Museum of Virginia: www.childrensmuseumva.com.

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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-30-11 1600GMT

 


ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE


View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children’s Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children’s Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children’s Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children's Museum of Virginia.

View of current construction to renovate and expand the Children’s Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. Image used with permission of Children’s Museum of Virginia.

Washington's carefully protected historic architecture is topped by The White House, which is second on the list of the American Institute of Architects' ranking of 'America's Favorite Architecture' ( No. 1 is the Empire State Building). Photo by Matt H. Wade, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Obama appoints Schlossberg to D.C. architecture and design panel

Washington's carefully protected historic architecture is topped by The White House, which is second on the list of the American Institute of Architects' ranking of 'America's Favorite Architecture' ( No. 1 is the Empire State Building). Photo by Matt H. Wade, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Washington’s carefully protected historic architecture is topped by The White House, which is second on the list of the American Institute of Architects’ ranking of ‘America’s Favorite Architecture’ ( No. 1 is the Empire State Building). Photo by Matt H. Wade, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Obama has appointed Edwin Schlossberg, an interactive media designer and husband of Caroline Kennedy, to serve on a federal panel that helps oversee the architecture and design of the nation’s capital.

The White House announced the appointment Tuesday night for the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts among other diplomatic and cultural posts. Schlossberg has a design firm in New York.

Members of the arts panel play a key role in shaping Washington architecture, including the design of new memorials or museums added to the National Mall or other parts of the city. Seven commissioners appointed by the president serve four-year terms without compensation.

Past members have included architects, landscape architects and artists, including Daniel Chester French who sculpted the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-30-11 1353GMT

 


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Washington's carefully protected historic architecture is topped by The White House, which is second on the list of the American Institute of Architects' ranking of 'America's Favorite Architecture' ( No. 1 is the Empire State Building). Photo by Matt H. Wade, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Washington’s carefully protected historic architecture is topped by The White House, which is second on the list of the American Institute of Architects’ ranking of ‘America’s Favorite Architecture’ ( No. 1 is the Empire State Building). Photo by Matt H. Wade, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Stolen Drtikol photograph found in US

PRAGUE (AP) – Police say a print by famed Czech photographer Frantisek Drtikol stolen from a Prague museum was found in California.

The print of Drtikol’s 1925 female nude “The Wave” disappeared March 13 from the Museum of Decorative Arts in the Czech capital.

Police spokeswoman Eva Kropacova says it was offered to be auctioned at a gallery in California. Kropacova says the gallery owner Joseph Bellow contacted the London-based Art Loss Register, which informed police investigators.

The print, which was insured for 1,25 million koruna ($71,500) was transported from London to Prague Wednesday.

Police declined to give any detail about a suspect who remains at large.

Prague museum has 10 prints of the photograph, including the one Drtikol marked “the final.”

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-30-11 1451GMT

 

British arts groups feel the sting of funding cuts

LONDON (AP) – Hundreds of British arts organizations had their public funding slashed or eliminated Wednesday, the result of government spending cuts aimed at tackling the country’s deficit.

The Arts Council England must cut 15 percent from the amount it gives to art, music, theater, dance, literature and other groups by 2015 – which still leaves it with almost 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) to hand out.

The council said that instead of “salami slicing” – cutting 15 percent from everyone – it wanted to create a smaller but stronger portfolio of groups. So some have been cut off entirely, while others have seen their funding increase.

“We have taken the brave path of strategic choices, not salami slices, which has meant some painful decisions,” said council chair Liz Forgan.

The council had funded about 850 groups but that has shrunk to 695 – chosen from 1,330 applicants. More than 200 groups will now have their funding cut entirely from next year, while many others face reductions.

Several major institutions, including the National Theatre, the Royal Opera and English National Ballet, have received cuts of about 15 percent to their annual funding.

But some companies are seeing increases – from innovative stage company Punchdrunk to the British Federation of Brass Bands – and 110 organizations are being funded for the first time.

For a decade before the financial crisis began in 2007, Britain spent hundreds of millions of pounds building, renovating and expanding museums, galleries and theaters. Some fear that artistic golden age is now under threat.

Ivan Lewis, culture spokesman for the opposition Labour Party, said the cuts would have a “chilling impact” and mean higher ticket prices.

“I fear a return to the 80s and 90s when the arts were for the few, not the many,” he said.

The government was unsympathetic, saying that in tough times, everyone needed to share the pain. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Arts Council was “in a much better position than many other parts of the public sector.”

The government plans to cut 80 billion pounds ($128 billion) from public expenditure over the next four years. Hunt said the government would take steps to encourage private arts philanthropy, and had increased the amount arts groups get from national lottery profits.

The council has been told to cut its overall budget by almost 30 percent by 2015, and says it will reduce administrative costs by half to meet the target.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-30-11 0916GMT

 

Pieter Molijn (Dutch, 1625-1650), Landscape with Cottage and Figures.

Getty Museum to return Dutch painting looted by Nazis

Pieter Molijn (Dutch, 1625-1650), Landscape with Cottage and Figures.

Pieter Molijn (Dutch, 1625-1650), Landscape with Cottage and Figures.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The J. Paul Getty Museum has agreed to return a 370-year-old painting that once belonged to an art dealer who fled Holland when the Nazis invaded in 1940.

Jacques Goudstikker was the Netherlands’ biggest art dealer in the 1930s. He was fleeing the Nazis with his wife and young son at the beginning of World War II when he fell through a trap door on an outbound ship and died.

His collection was looted, with some works claimed by Adolf Hitler chief deputy Hermann Goering.

Goudstikker’s daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher, has spent years trying to track down the works. Her successes have been on tour around the country in an exhibition that ends Tuesday in San Francisco and featured 45 recovered pieces from the collection.

The Getty bought the 1640 Pieter Molijn painting titled Landscape With Cottage and Figures in good faith at a 1972 auction, the museum said, according to the Los Angeles Times. The museum did not disclose the purchase price and has never displayed the painting.

“Working in cooperation with representatives of the Goudstikker heirs, the Getty’s research revealed that the painting was in Goudstikker’s inventory at the time of the invasion in 1940, and that it was never restituted after World War II,” according to a written statement from the museum. “Based on its findings, the Getty concluded that the painting should be transferred to the heirs.”

At least four other museums in the United States and Canada have works from the collection, and family attorney Lawrence Kaye said he hopes they will follow Getty’s lead. About 1,000 of Goudstikker’s 1,400 paintings remain unaccounted for, he said.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-29-11 2202GMT

 


ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE


Pieter Molijn (Dutch, 1625-1650), Landscape with Cottage and Figures.

Pieter Molijn (Dutch, 1625-1650), Landscape with Cottage and Figures.

Nolan Miller silk chiffon and sequin flame evening gown worn in a performance of ‘Love on the Rocks’ with Tom Jones. No label. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Gladys Knight’s gowns to sparkle at Leslie Hindman auction April 11

Nolan Miller silk chiffon and sequin flame evening gown worn in a performance of ‘Love on the Rocks’ with Tom Jones. No label. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Nolan Miller silk chiffon and sequin flame evening gown worn in a performance of ‘Love on the Rocks’ with Tom Jones. No label. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

CHICAGO – During a special evening session of the house’s Vintage Couture and Accessories auction on Monday, April 11, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers will offer a collection of garments owned by Gladys Knight, a seven-time Grammy Award winner known to her fans as “the Empress of Soul.” LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

Knight, who began her illustrious career as lead vocalist of Gladys Knight & The Pips, wore the 57 dazzling outfits throughout her storied career at performances and award ceremonies. Her collection depicts the evolution of her personal style across more than four decades.

Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta on May 28, 1944. Her first taste of stardom came at the age of 7, when she won Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour contest. The following year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Eleanor Guest formed a group called “The Pips,” after another cousin, James “Pip” Woods. By 1960 The Pips began touring, eventually signing with Motown Records and opening for Diana Ross and The Supremes.

Gladys Knight & The Pips count among their hit singles I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Friendship Train and If I Were Your Woman. In 1973 the group left Motown to sign with Buddah Records, landing a major hit with Grammy-winner Midnight Train to Georgia. After The Pips retired in 1988, Knight embarked on an enormously successful solo career. She has received worldwide acclaim for her singles, which have topped the album charts.

Knight’s sister, Brenda Knight, said, “My sister has always been very compassionate and interested in helping others, but the demands of her career and her commitment to her fans mean that there just isn’t time to share some of these wonderful memories. She and I have both dreamed of using this collection to make a difference, and hope it will bring special, incredible memories to her fans too.”

Ensembles from designers such as Bob Mackie, Tony Chase and Oleg Cassini cover appearances made by Knight in recent years to as early as the 1970s. The magnificently brilliant colors, textures and materials make it clear that each gown is not just something Gladys wore, but a way of heightening the experience of a performance.

“These dresses are as exciting as any we’ve handled from a prominent collection,” said Auctioneer Leslie Hindman. “It’s an honor to be handling a part of music history.”

The auction’s exhibition is free and open to the public Wednesday, April 6, through Monday, April 11. The sale will begin at 7 p.m. April 11.

Leslie Hindman’s, entire fully illustrated catalog is available at our website www.lesliehindman.com, on www.liveauctioneers.com and a printed catalog is available by calling 312-280-1212. For more information, please contact Abigail Rutherford at 312-334-4234 or abigail@lesliehindman.com.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Tony Chase custom evening gown with rhinestone buttons, worn on the cover of both ‘Soul Survivors, The Best of Gladys Knight and the Pips 1973-1988’ and ‘The Best of Gladys Knight & The Pips’ albums. Labeled: Tony Chase. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Tony Chase custom evening gown with rhinestone buttons, worn on the cover of both ‘Soul Survivors, The Best of Gladys Knight and the Pips 1973-1988’ and ‘The Best of Gladys Knight & The Pips’ albums. Labeled: Tony Chase. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Saks Fifth Avenue gold and red sequin and beaded evening gown. Labeled: Saks Fifth Avenue. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate $600-$800. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Saks Fifth Avenue gold and red sequin and beaded evening gown. Labeled: Saks Fifth Avenue. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate $600-$800. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Giorgio of Beverly Hills silver beaded and black chiffon evening gown. Labeled: Giorgio. Property from the Collection of Gladys Knight, Las Vegas, Nevada. Estimate: $400-$600. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
Hermès black alligator sac mallette bag, 1960s, with gold hardware, key sheath, red velvet lining, 14 inches x 9 inches x 5 inches. Stamped: Hermès. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

Hermès black alligator sac mallette bag, 1960s, with gold hardware, key sheath, red velvet lining, 14 inches x 9 inches x 5 inches. Stamped: Hermès. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.

The British Royal Mail's new stamps featuring the official engagement portraits taken by world-renowned photographer Mario Testino.

Wills and Kate Royal Wedding stamps available soon

The British Royal Mail's new stamps featuring the official engagement portraits taken by world-renowned photographer Mario Testino.

The British Royal Mail’s new stamps featuring the official engagement portraits taken by world-renowned photographer Mario Testino.

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Royal Mail is celebrating Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding with a new set of stamps that feature their official engagement portraits.

Two pictures of the couple taken by fashion and celebrity photographer Mario Testino will be printed on the set of commemorative stamps, which can be ordered beginning April 7.

The Royal Mail said Tuesday the collectibles have been approved by William and will be released on April 21, the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

William has been featured on stamps twice before – to mark the Queen Mother’s 100th birthday on August 4, 2000, and three years later to mark his 21st birthday.

Meanwhile, Transport for London said Tuesday that William and his bride-to-be will also grace special commemorative transit cards.

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Online: www.royalmail.com

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WF-03-29-11 1038GMT

 

Antique bronze fountain having acorn finial top, circa 1890. Estimate: $2,500-$3,500. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Kamelot’s Garden and Architectural Antique Auction in bloom April 9

Antique bronze fountain having acorn finial top, circa 1890. Estimate: $2,500-$3,500. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Antique bronze fountain having acorn finial top, circa 1890. Estimate: $2,500-$3,500. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

PHILADELPHIA – Kamelot Auction House will conduct its sixth annual Garden and Architectural Antique Auction, one of the most important garden-themed antiques markets in the nation, on Saturday, April 9. Doors open at 8 a.m. and bidding begins at 10 a.m. The public is invited to preview the items on April 6-8.

LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding.

“Our annual Garden and Architectural Antique Auction has become a springtime tradition in Philadelphia and is an established source for both professional and individual buyers across the country,” said Jeff Kamal, president and CEO of Kamelot Auction House. “The sale offers residential gardeners an opportunity to furnish their outdoor living areas with flair and originality, and offers professional designers and seasoned auction-goers rare and very special garden antiques.”

This annual auction event also promises a well-honed selection of statuary, fountains, urns and planters and other decorative arts for the outdoors, as well as antique, vintage and modern garden furniture, stained and leaded glass, iron gates and balcony panels, lighting, fireplace elements and garden sculptures. This year’s event also includes a majestic nineteenth century French carved marble fountain attributed to Pierre Victor Sappey incorporating a classical figure of a young male with serpent, to a very fine exceptionally detailed American Victorian cast-iron James Bebe twig bench circa 1870, as well as the following:

  • Baroque-style carved garden fountain having two seated putti with grape clusters circa 1940;
  • Two door zinc watering cabinet circa 1920;
  • A Georgian life sized antique carved marble bust of gentleman with classical draped gown circa 1840;
  • Signed cast iron garden benches in the grape pattern circa 1920;
  • An American Victorian cast iron Labrador retriever, generally attributed to Putnam, Vermont, with remains of old paint circa 1880;
  • A pair of vintage French wrought iron garden gates having overall scroll and ball decoration circa 1920.

The catalog for the Garden and Architecture Antique Auction including photo galleries and detailed descriptions of every lot can be viewed at www.kamelotauctions.com. For more information about this sale, or to inquire about how to participate in an upcoming event, call 215-438-6990.

Kamelot Auctions is located in an historic Atwater Kent Building, 4700 Wissahickon Ave., Suite 107, in Northwestern Philadelphia.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Large scale American Edith Baretto Parsons signed bronze fountain figure ‘Fish Baby,’ circa 1920. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Large scale American Edith Baretto Parsons signed bronze fountain figure ‘Fish Baby,’ circa 1920. Estimate: $10,000-$15,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Exceptionally fine pair of Italian Grand Tour bronze standing deer, each signed ‘S.A.B. de Angelis & Fils, Naples 1907.’ Estimate: $7,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Exceptionally fine pair of Italian Grand Tour bronze standing deer, each signed ‘S.A.B. de Angelis & Fils, Naples 1907.’ Estimate: $7,000-$9,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Antique French terra-cotta garden figure of a beautiful young girl in draped gown with flaming torch, circa 1860. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Antique French terra-cotta garden figure of a beautiful young girl in draped gown with flaming torch, circa 1860. Estimate: $4,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Fine antique carved marble garden bench with scrolling acanthus leaf decoration, circa 1880. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Fine antique carved marble garden bench with scrolling acanthus leaf decoration, circa 1880. Estimate: $3,000-$5,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Pair of bronze Regency-style torchieres having x-form stands supporting leaded glass globes with flame finials, circa 1900. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Pair of bronze Regency-style torchieres having x-form stands supporting leaded glass globes with flame finials, circa 1900. Estimate: $2,000-$3,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Nineteenth-century Italian carved marble figural fountain. Estimate: $2,500-$4,500. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Nineteenth-century Italian carved marble figural fountain. Estimate: $2,500-$4,500. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Important 19th-century French carved marble fountain attributed to Pierre Victor Sappey, with classical young male and serpent figures. Estimate: $7,000- $9,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Important 19th-century French carved marble fountain attributed to Pierre Victor Sappey, with classical young male and serpent figures. Estimate: $7,000- $9,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Exceptional carved marble satyr figure, signed ‘Prof. Andreini Firenze,’ dated 1907. Estimate: $8,000- $12,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Exceptional carved marble satyr figure, signed ‘Prof. Andreini Firenze,’ dated 1907. Estimate: $8,000- $12,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

American Victorian cast-iron garden fountain labeled ‘Devensy & Hitzeroth, Market Street Philadelphia,’ circa 1870. Estimate: $3,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

American Victorian cast-iron garden fountain labeled ‘Devensy & Hitzeroth, Market Street Philadelphia,’ circa 1870. Estimate: $3,000-$6,000. Image courtesy of Kamelot Auctions.

Vyacheslav Kalinin (Russian, born 1939), ‘Devushka iz 'Pleyboya,’ (Girl from Playboy Magazine), 1986, oil on canvas, 55 1/8 inches x 39 3/8 inches, signed and dated lower left; signed, titled, and dated on the verso in Cyrillic. Estimate $20,000-$30,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Shapiro offers Russian art with iron-clad provenance at April 16 sale

Vyacheslav Kalinin (Russian, born 1939), ‘Devushka iz 'Pleyboya,’ (Girl from Playboy Magazine), 1986, oil on canvas, 55 1/8 inches x 39 3/8 inches, signed and dated lower left; signed, titled, and dated on the verso in Cyrillic. Estimate $20,000-$30,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Vyacheslav Kalinin (Russian, born 1939), ‘Devushka iz ‘Pleyboya,’ (Girl from Playboy Magazine), 1986, oil on canvas, 55 1/8 inches x 39 3/8 inches, signed and dated lower left; signed, titled, and dated on the verso in Cyrillic. Estimate $20,000-$30,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

NEW YORK – Gene Shapiro Auctions LLC will conduct their Spring Auction of Russian Art on Saturday, April 16, during Russian Art Week. Both the auction and a week of preview exhibition starting on April 9 will take place at the company’s location at 506 E. 74th St. on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

LiveAuctioneers will provide Internet live bidding. The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Company founder Gene Shapiro, is upbeat about both the quality and quantity of works that his eponymous firm will be offering, “With rising commodity prices and prominent buying by Russian buyers in the news, many private American collectors decided that now was the time to sell works that have been in their collections for years. As a result, we were able to obtain a lot of great consignments for this auction.”

Indeed, on offer at Gene Shapiro will be more than 400 lots of paintings, bronzes, icons, enamel, silver, porcelain, rare books and maps, swords and militaria, posters, and works on paper, most of which are fresh to the market.

“We wanted to have something for everybody in this auction – from collectors of antique icons, to rare books, to buyers of Imperial Russian porcelain,” said Shapiro. “We were helped greatly in this regard by several significant consignments from American families whose grandparents were buying and importing artworks from Russia in the 1930s.”

One of these collections came from the family of Dr. Adolphus Rumreich, who served as the physician at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 1935-1938. While there, he and his wife, Edna Irene Hall Rumreich, assembled a sizeable collection of Russian pre-revolutionary art and books then being sold by the Soviet government. They often accompanied American Ambassador to the Soviet Union Joseph Davies and his wife, Marjorie Merriweather Post, prominent American collectors of Russian artworks of the 20th century, when they visited Torgsin and other Soviet agencies that sold antiques to foreign dignitaries.

Another American collection including important sets of Imperial porcelain and early 19th- and 18th-century icons was consigned by a family whose grandfather was a diplomat in the Italian Embassy to the Soviet Union during the 1930s, and who was actively acquiring Russian works of art during his time in Moscow.

Among the rare and exceptional works of art from these collections are a rare 18th-century icon depicting the lives and works of Saint Nikolai Chudotvorets and Saint Christopher with elaborate basmany oklad (est. $5,000-$6,000); a collection of 82 pieces of Imperial porcelain from the Babigon Service, with both Nicholas I and Nicholas II hallmarks (est. $30,000-$40,000); a finely painted 19th-century porcelain tea service by the Popov Factory (est. $8,000-$12,000); volumes II and IV from Nikolai Kutepov’s Tsarskaya Okhota Na Rusi (est. $4,000-$6,000 each), and an intricately carved wooden presentation dish from the K. Sholtz Workshop in Moscow made in 1902 (est. $4,000-$6,000).

Gene Shapiro is also excited to offer for the first time at auction an exquisite collection of superbly preserved examples of Imperial headgear, most from the Life-Guards regiments at the height of the Russian empire’s splendor. Highlights from this collection include an extremely rare Russian Imperial Nicholas I era parade “misiurka” helmet of his Imperial Majesty’s own Caucasian-Mountains Life-Guards Half-Squadron konvoi escort (est. $30,000-$40,000), as well as a rare Russian Imperial cap of a bombardier regiment’s officer from 1775, during the reign of Catherine the Great (est. $20,000-25,000).

A rare oil on canvas by Gustav Klucis, with expertise from the Tretyakov Museum, depicting a seated abstract nude, is estimated at $200,000-$300,000. Two paintings by the important Russian émigré artist Abraham Manievich from a private American collection, one of a town view (est. $20,000-$25,000) and the other an oil on canvas of a winter scene ($15,000-$20,000) are prominently featured and highly accomplished works by the artist. Likewise, a 1948 portrait by the important futurist artist David Burliuk with characteristic bravura brushwork and vibrant palette goes on the block with an estimate of $30,000-$40,000. Other works in the sale include paintings by well-known Russian painters such as Vladimir Aralov, Eugene and Leonid Berman, Mikhail Guzhavin, Stepan Kolesnikoff, Alexei Korzukhin, Alexander Makovsky, Konstantin Makovsky, Sacha Moldovan, Pavel Naumov, Vassili Polenov, Jean Pougny, Sergei Soudeikine, Feodor Sychkov, Pavel Tchelitchew, Alexandra Venetsianova, Ilya Zankowski, and Richard Karlovich Zommer.

Contemporary artworks by the well-known names of Russian contemporary art also play a significant role in the auction. From the family of a private American collector who was purchasing works in the 1980s and 1990s, comes a large-scale oil on canvas by Leonid Purygin (1951-1996) depicting the artist crossing the Atlantic Ocean to visit the Metropolitan Museum in New York (est. $30,000-$40,000). From the same collection, is another large work by Vyacheslav Kalinin, Girl from Playboy, which was exhibited at the retrospective exhibition of the artist at Nakhamkin Fine Arts in the 1980s and illustrated in the catalog accompanying the exhibition (est. $20,000-$30,000). Other works in the auction by prominent Russian contemporary artists include those by artists including Alexander Arefiev, Vagrich Bakhchanyan, Grisha Bruskin, Eduard Gorokhovsky, Ilya Kabakov, Vasily Kafanov, Valery Koshlyakov, Dmitry Krasnopevtsev, Lev Meshberg, Vyacheslav Mikhailov, Evgeny Mikhnov-Voitenko, Tatiana Nazarenko, Natalia Nesterova, Shimon Okshteyn, Boris Orlov, Dmitry Plavinsky, Alexander Roitburd, Mikhail Roginsky, Vladimir Shagin, Leonid Sokov, Boris Sveshnikov, Nikolai Vechtomov, and Anatoly Zverev.

There will be several choice lots of European, American and Latin American works such as a rare Lynn Chadwick bronze from the Elektra series, a striking op-art piece from the prominent Colombian artist Omar Rayo, and an early assemblage of paint tubes by the French-American conceptualist Arman. Other non-Russian artists in the auction include works by Gonzalo Ariza, Christian Berard, Narcisse Diaz de la Pena, Chaim Gross, Jean Jansem, Paul Lemagny, Reuvin Rubin, Arthur Szyk, Victor Vasarely, and Alexander Helwig Wyant.

All of the works in the April 16 sale will be exhibited for a full week before the auction at Gene Shapiro Auctions LLC’s location on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, 506 E. 74th St., New York, NY 10021. For details call 212-717-7500.

 

View the fully illustrated catalog and register to bid absentee or live via the Internet as the sale is taking place by logging on to www.LiveAuctioneers.com.


ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE


Volume IV of Nikolai Kutepov’s four-volume set chronicling  the Imperial Hunt in Russia from the late 18th to 19th centuries. The leather-bound book published in 1911 carries a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Volume IV of Nikolai Kutepov’s four-volume set chronicling the Imperial Hunt in Russia from the late 18th to 19th centuries. The leather-bound book published in 1911 carries a $4,000-$6,000 estimate. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Abraham Manievich (Russian 1881-1942), ‘Quiet Autumn Day,’ oil on board, with another, unfinished, painting of a busy street scene on the verso, 22 3/8 x 26 1/2 inches, signed lower right. Estimate: $20,000-25,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Abraham Manievich (Russian 1881-1942), ‘Quiet Autumn Day,’ oil on board, with another, unfinished, painting of a busy street scene on the verso, 22 3/8 x 26 1/2 inches, signed lower right. Estimate: $20,000-25,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Arthur Szyk (Polish American, 1894-1951), ‘Hitler Caught,’ 1942, gouache and pencil on paper, 13 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches. Estimate: $6,500-8,500. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Arthur Szyk (Polish American, 1894-1951), ‘Hitler Caught,’ 1942, gouache and pencil on paper, 13 3/4 x 13 3/8 inches. Estimate: $6,500-8,500. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003), ‘Sitting Elektra IV,’ 1968, bronze and polished bronze, artist's cast, edition of four, 24 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $40,000-60,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Lynn Chadwick (British, 1914-2003), ‘Sitting Elektra IV,’ 1968, bronze and polished bronze, artist’s cast, edition of four, 24 1/4 inches high. Estimate: $40,000-60,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Omar Rayo (Colombian, 1928-2010), ‘Ibawabi,’ 1975, acrylic on canvas, 26 x 26 inches), $15,000-20,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Omar Rayo (Colombian, 1928-2010), ‘Ibawabi,’ 1975, acrylic on canvas, 26 x 26 inches), $15,000-20,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Russian porcelain tea service,  28 pieces total, Popov Manufactory, 19th century, $8,000-10,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Russian porcelain tea service, 28 pieces total, Popov Manufactory, 19th century, $8,000-10,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Russian gilt silver and onyx charka, 17th century. Estimate: $6,000-8,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.

Russian gilt silver and onyx charka, 17th century. Estimate: $6,000-8,000. Gene Shapiro Auctions image.