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Lot 553 |The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller
LIUBOV POPOVA (1889-1924)
Six Prints: one print
Closed10 May 2018
Price Realised
USD 68,750
More Information
LIUBOV POPOVA (1889-1924)
Six Prints: one print
linocut with watercolor and gouache additions
Sheet: 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in. (349 x 260 mm.)
Executed circa 1917-1919.
Six Prints: one print
linocut with watercolor and gouache additions
Sheet: 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in. (349 x 260 mm.)
Executed circa 1917-1919.
LIUBOV POPOVA (1889-1924)
Six Prints: one print
linocut with watercolor and gouache additions
Sheet: 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in. (349 x 260 mm.)
Executed circa 1917-1919.
Six Prints: one print
linocut with watercolor and gouache additions
Sheet: 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ in. (349 x 260 mm.)
Executed circa 1917-1919.
George Costakis.
Acquired from the above by the late owners, May 1974.
Acquired from the above by the late owners, May 1974.
The present lot is an extremely rare example of an individual print from Liubov Popova’s Six Prints portfolio of hand-colored linocuts. The Museum of Modern Art believes that only two complete examples of this portfolio are still in existence. Popova has been featured in several major exhibitions devoted to Suprematism and Constructivism and is considered one of the most important artists of the Russian avant-garde in the early years of the 20th Century.
During the period that Six Prints was created, Popova was a member of the Society of Painters Supremus, where she worked directly with other Suprematists including Kasmir Malevich. The Six Prints compositions are related to Popova’s “Architectonic Paintings,” which are indicative of the movement. These works are characterized by her use of abstract forms, flat saturated colors, and open backgrounds.1 Designed to create an ambiguous object between a flat picture plane and a three-dimensional sculpture, the dynamic nature of Popova’s compositions differ from her Suprematist contemporaries. The portfolio is also closely informed by her earlier exposure to Cubist collages and the colors found in traditional Russian Folk art.
“It was a wintry night in the mid 1970s. David Rockefeller, Bill Hewitt (the CEO of John Deere) and my parents were flying from Tbilisi to Moscow, on Mr Rockefeller’s plane. During the flight, he asked my mother if she could arrange for him to visit with her friend George Costakis, who had rescued and accumulated the most extraordinary treasures — Chagall, Kandinsky, Malevich, Lissitsky…
She called from the plane and, as soon as they landed, they went straight to his apartment. George and his wife sang Russian songs and plied them with stories and vodka. Madame Plisetskaya, the great ballerina, was there. David Rockefeller identified all of the paintings — masterpieces that lined the walls, the ceilings etc. As my father commented, this was the encounter of “the likely collector and the unlikely collector.”
At the end of the evening, George asked my mother if she thought he could give Mr Rockefeller a gift. She said of course. He pulled out this beautiful Popova. Whereupon Mr Rockefeller, with tears in his eyes, said… 'Today is my birthday.’
Some years later, my mother visited Mr Rockefeller in his office, where he proudly hung the Popova, and showed it to her in a book of his private collection.”
-Christie’s would like to thank Leah Pisar for sharing the history regarding this lot.
1. Liubov Popova, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, p. 18
During the period that Six Prints was created, Popova was a member of the Society of Painters Supremus, where she worked directly with other Suprematists including Kasmir Malevich. The Six Prints compositions are related to Popova’s “Architectonic Paintings,” which are indicative of the movement. These works are characterized by her use of abstract forms, flat saturated colors, and open backgrounds.1 Designed to create an ambiguous object between a flat picture plane and a three-dimensional sculpture, the dynamic nature of Popova’s compositions differ from her Suprematist contemporaries. The portfolio is also closely informed by her earlier exposure to Cubist collages and the colors found in traditional Russian Folk art.
“It was a wintry night in the mid 1970s. David Rockefeller, Bill Hewitt (the CEO of John Deere) and my parents were flying from Tbilisi to Moscow, on Mr Rockefeller’s plane. During the flight, he asked my mother if she could arrange for him to visit with her friend George Costakis, who had rescued and accumulated the most extraordinary treasures — Chagall, Kandinsky, Malevich, Lissitsky…
She called from the plane and, as soon as they landed, they went straight to his apartment. George and his wife sang Russian songs and plied them with stories and vodka. Madame Plisetskaya, the great ballerina, was there. David Rockefeller identified all of the paintings — masterpieces that lined the walls, the ceilings etc. As my father commented, this was the encounter of “the likely collector and the unlikely collector.”
At the end of the evening, George asked my mother if she thought he could give Mr Rockefeller a gift. She said of course. He pulled out this beautiful Popova. Whereupon Mr Rockefeller, with tears in his eyes, said… 'Today is my birthday.’
Some years later, my mother visited Mr Rockefeller in his office, where he proudly hung the Popova, and showed it to her in a book of his private collection.”
-Christie’s would like to thank Leah Pisar for sharing the history regarding this lot.
1. Liubov Popova, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, p. 18
A. Rudensteine and S. Starr, Russian Avant-Garde Art: The George Costakis Collection, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1981, p. 382 (another example illustrated in color)
D. Sarabianov and N. Adaskina, Popova, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1989, p. 126 (another example illustrated in color)
M. Dabrowski, Liubov Popova, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, p. 76 (another example illustrated in color)
M. Potter et al, The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Art of the Western Hemisphere, New York, 1988, vol. II, pp. 214, no. 131
D. Sarabianov and N. Adaskina, Popova, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, 1989, p. 126 (another example illustrated in color)
M. Dabrowski, Liubov Popova, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, p. 76 (another example illustrated in color)
M. Potter et al, The David and Peggy Rockefeller Collection: Art of the Western Hemisphere, New York, 1988, vol. II, pp. 214, no. 131
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