Bruun Rasmussen Russian

At Bruun Rasmussen, we’re holding the year’s last themed auctions of art and antiques from Russia. One of them is being held as part of the international auction at Bredgade and the other as an online auction, giving you the opportunity to bid on more than 200 fabulous Russian objets d’art.

The Holy Seraphim
Canonisation has been an important part of religious life in the Russian Orthodox Church since the Middle Ages. One of the most famous saints is the monk, St Seraphim of Sarov (1754-1833), who is depicted on one of the icons up for auction. He was said to have had healing powers, and this came to the attention of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia. They had four daughters, but wanted a son who could continue the tsardom. The canonisation of Seraphim therefore took place at the request of the Imperial couple on 19 July 1903 – a date engraved in the gilded silver frame of the icon up for auction. The tsarina then bathed in Seraphim’s lake and prayed to him. The mission bore fruit, and in 1904 she gave birth to her son Alexei.

A Cossack on horseback and brightly coloured enamel

An armed Cossack in characteristic headgear, trying to bring his horse under control – the scene of a 19th century patinated bronze figure by the artist Evgeny Ivanovich Naps. It doesn’t get much more Russian than that! Except perhaps for the brightly coloured enamel adorning several of the auction’s silver pieces, including a large Russian soup ladle from the 6th Cartel and two bowls by the renowned silversmith Ivan Petrovich Khlebnikov, purveyor to the Russian imperial family.

Russian festivities

Brightly dressed peasants in festive mood sing and dance the “Khorovod” (round dance), in the lively depiction of folk life from 1914 by Mikhail Vasilievich Boskin (1875-1929). He was known primarily as a genre and landscape painter, preferring, as here, to seek his motifs in the Russian provinces. The painting is typical of the Russian art of the day, but it also contains impressionistic features, which may be a result of the inspiration Boskin drew from a lengthy stay in Paris in the years 1908-10.

In a painting by Boskin’s contemporary Konstantin Fedorovich Juon (1875-1958), the season has changed to winter, and we are witnessing a traditional Russian Shrovetide procession in the snow-covered city of Troitse-Sergiev. Juon was also an artist who spent time in Paris and was inspired by the great European modern masters. On his return home, he opened the first private art school in Moscow in 1900.

Both paintings come from the collection of the late Dane Gerda Schønnebech, who acquired them around the time of the Russian Revolution, when she was living in Russia.

Further temptations at online auction

Less than a week after the themed auction at Bredgade, the spotlight will once again be on art and antiques from Russia. The items in question include a wide selection of silver with cloisonné enamel by famous silversmiths, an artistic portrait of Empress Dagmar’s Cossack bodyguard, more icons, and belongings of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna. Bid at the online auction from Friday 23 November.

Russian auction at Bredgade 33, Copenhagen: Wednesday 28 November from 2 pm
Preview: 22 – 26 November

Online Russian auction 1249: Monday 3 December from 5 pm
Preview: 24 November – 3 December at Sundkrogsgade 30 in Copenhagen’s Nordhavn and Søren Frichs Vej 34 D in Aarhus.

Enjoy!

View all Russian items at the auction at Bredgade

View all Russian items at the online auction