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* 96. YANKILEVSKY, VLADIMIR (1938-2018)
Untitled, signed and dated 1984.
Ink and pastel on paper, 29.6 by 21 cm (cardboard 44 by 34.5 cm).
2,000-3,000 GBP
Provenance: A gift from the artist to the father of the present owner in 1986.
Private collection, Europe.
The collection of works by nonconformist artists presented for auction (Lots 89–96) was gathered during the last two decades of the Soviet Union. All of the works were gifted by the artists themselves, with whom the father of the present owner shared many years of friendship and artistic interaction. At the core of this collection are works on paper of artistic and historical significance by Ilya Kabakov and Vladimir Yankilevsky. Comprising drawings and prints from the early 1970s onwards, the collection serves as a testament to the important and profound links forged by artists during the most testing of times for their creative endeavour. Without a doubt, the appearance of this collection on the market will be a real discovery for connoisseurs of Russian art of the second half of the twentieth century.
The relationship between the core essence of the feminine and the masculine, and their place in the Universe is the central theme in Vladimir Yankilevsky’s oeuvre, the theme which he continued to explore in his numerous drawings and series of etchings (Lots 95 and 96). Semiabstract magical symbols and machine-like, yet recognisably organic forms inhibit these compositions. Various kinds of mutants are the constant heroes of Yankilevsky’s works on paper. The artist composed a separate world for them. On the sheet from the “Sodom and Gomorrah” series (Lot 95), among others, there is a woman who is rolling on a wheel and reading a newspaper. Yankilevsky believed that the combination of a newspaper, a political text and the divine feminine was the most fearsome of all.
Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
◎ Indicates the lot is located outside the UK. Successful bidders would collect their lots outside the UK after payment.
Ω Indicates 20% Import Duty Charge applies.
§ Indicates Artist's Resale Right applies.
† Indicates Standard VAT scheme applies, and the rate of 20% VAT will be charged on both hammer price and premium.