TSELKOV Oleg (1934-2021)
TSELKOV Oleg (1934-2021)
Head with a fork
Oil on canvas
Signed lower right. Named, signed, dated "1995" on the back.
60 x 120 cm.
Provenance: private collection, Luxembourg
Expert: Ekaterina Nikolaeva-Tendil
Expert in Russian Art
+ 33 (0)6 52 33 90 42
www.expertartrusse.com
Born in Moscow in 1935, Oleg Tselkov is one of the most influential Russian non-conformist painters of the 1960s (Eric Bulatov, Oscar Rabin, Oleg Koulik and others). He began exhibiting his work in Europe in the 1970s. In 1977, under pressure from the Soviet authorities, Tselkov had to leave the USSR for good and settle in France. He never saw his departure from the USSR as a tragedy, but rather as an opportunity to open up to international art. His style, formed under the influence of the avant-gardists (K.Malevitch, V.Kandinsky, P.Kontchalovski), became quite clear already in the 1970s. Without wanting to use his art as a means of fighting against the USSR, he quickly turned to international artists such as Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti, who influenced him greatly. At the centre of Oleg Tselkov's art is a recurring character, represented as a white mask. He worked on this character with his mask-faces throughout his life. The folkloric and traditional, but striking colours - "The colours must kill, hit hard between the eyes", said Tselkov - made his paintings easily recognisable. In the 1990s, when the paintings presented here were created, Oleg Tselkov was already playing an important role in contemporary art in Europe and was much sought after by many international collectors.
Specifications
- Lot number : 362
- Low estimate : 20000
- High estimate : 30000
- Auctioned : 20000