Did you hear a Cossack giggling?
I hate to generalise about a nationality, but the Russians are awfully stoic in their art, as in politics. So Ivan Vladimirovich Kosmin’s “Water Spirit” makes a fun change.
Others would seem to agree: Sotheby’s New York is expecting to get as much as $350,000 for it at its “Russian Art” auction later this month.
The salespeople admit that little is known about Ivan Kosmin (1882-1973), other than he was born to “peasants” in a village outside Moscow, and attended the “prestigious” Penza Art College through 1909, then the St Petersburg Academy until 1912.
He did very well in school, Sotheby’s says. Yes, he did!
