Post-War and Contemporary Russian Art from a Private Collection
Post-War and Contemporary Russian Art from a Private Collection
Property from a Private European Collection
Oskar Rabin
City with Moon (Socialist City)
Auction Closed
December 1, 01:41 PM GMT
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from a Private European Collection
Oskar Rabin
1928-2018
City with Moon (Socialist City)
signed in Cyrillic and dated 1959 on the reverse
oil on canvas
Canvas: 89.5 by 109.5cm, 35¼ by 43in.
Framed: 108.5 by 128.5cm, 42¾ by 50½in.
Christine Sperber, founder of Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York, acquired directly from the artist
Private collection, USA
Sotheby's New York, Russian Art Volume II. Post War and Contemporary Art, 15 April 2008, lot 199
Executed in 1959, City with Moon is an important example of Rabin’s early oeuvre. Presenting sordid aspects of Soviet life in a grotesque manner, the work also introduces the motif of rooftops that would feature in many of Rabin's later paintings. The present composition depicts a sombre city, with a powerplant spewing its black smoke in the background. In the foreground, tenements lean precariously away and towards each other, drawing on Rabin’s love for children’s art, particularly visible in the angular distortions of both the buildings and the perspective.