Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Sotheby's, one of the world's oldest auction houses, will present Russian works of art spanning three centuries in London on December 1.

Among the main items available, a painting by Azerbaijani artist Tahir Salahov called Aidan will also be put on display.

The masterpiece has an estimated value of 250,000-350,000 pounds.

Another version of the portrait is kept at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Russia.

The featured version, however, was painted by the artist specifically for his solo exhibition in Tokyo in 1980.

Aidan is considered a typical image of childhood in the Soviet era. The original design was created by the artist's daughter, Aidan Salahova.

The portrait is so famous that Russia issued a stamp bearing its image in 2011.

The auction will also feature a number of important works from private collections that have never been put on sale before. The earliest work available is a rare painting by Dmitry Levitsky, the 18th-century painter of the aristocracy, whose Portrait of Princess Varvara Golitsynadates dates back to 1779.

Also being offered for the first time are Winter in Abramtsevo by Valentin Serov, depicting the celebrated artists’ colony and estate of the great patron Savva Mamontov; Boris Grigoriev’s unique Ramayana; a Boris Kustodiev watercolour of A Merchant’s Wife; and Dmitri Stelletsky’s De l’Aube à la Nuit, which was first exhibited at the 1920 Venice Biennale.

One of the most prominent representatives of Azerbaijani art, Salahov is the vice-president and honorary president of the International Association of Plastic Arts of UNESCO, as well as the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Arts.

He is the winner of a number of prestigious awards, including the State Prize of the USSR and Azerbaijan.

Currently, Salahov lives in Moscow and holds classes. He also has a studio at the Moscow Art Institute.

The artist became one of the leading representatives of the so-called "severe style," a trend in Soviet art from the 1960s that aimed to showcase a hard, realist's perspective versus the ceremonial "polished reality" of the Joseph Stalin era.

Salahov's early works showed the life and work of Baku oil workers and included portraits of famous composers, using contrasting shades of red, black, light grey, and dark grey.

As his style developed, his paintings became more peaceful and contemplative, lines became smoother and more harmonious, and his palette became more sophisticated.

Sotheby’s was founded in London in 1744, when Samuel Baker auctioned “several hundred scarce and valuable books” from the library of the Rt Hon Sir John Stanley for a few hundred pounds.

Since then, Sotheby’s has distinguished itself as a leader in the auction world. The auctions, conducted in London and Paris; the museum-style galleries of its headquarters in New York; and the spirited atmosphere of its auctions in Hong Kong attract audiences worldwide, leading to record-breaking sales in each auction season.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist. Follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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