Russia in the art-space race, part 3
How would you like to wake up every morning to Nikolai Konstantinovich Kalmakov’s “The Wife of Satan”?
On the other hand, Kalmakov’s “The Head of Christ” from 1922, not part of the Sotheby’s auctions of Russian art on June 10 and 12.
Kalmakov (1873-1955) was a stand-out at the sales this year, and his demon spouse from 1919 was a jaw-dropper, but the higher bidding and the fondest gazes were reserved for “The Death of Adonis” from 1924, below, which was expected to bring between £40,000 and £60,000, a third more than Mrs Satan.
Next, “The Prediction, Reclining Nude with Two Monkeys”, an undated gouache with gold, silver and bronze flourishes. There are three details, one here and two more further down. All three of these paintings came from “the estate of a French nobleman”, Sotheby’s said by way of assuring providence.
A symbolist tossed into the dubious catch-all “Russian Decadence”, Kalmakov was born in Italy and actually set out to be a lawyer, but when the Bolsheviks took power in 1917 he abandoned St Petersburg for Constantinople and points west, eventually coming to rest in Paris in 1926.
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