Here's the cross: Prince Vladimir's coin and Malevich's letters.
Malevich's letters, Jeff Beck's guitar, the rarest Lexus of 1931 and a coin of Prince Vladimir, minted shortly after the Baptism of Russia. In the first month of 2025 at the auction in Russia and abroad practically no first-class masterpieces of painting (their auction houses save for the spring), but a lot of rarities of another plan, designed to satisfy the interest of a variety of collectors. "Izvestia" chose the most notable lots.
Two letters by Kazimir Malevich
Top-lot January auction "Litfond" - two letters by Kazimir Malevich. The author of the "Black Square" addressed them in the spring of 1930 to his longtime friend, a major party figure Kirill Shutko. And these messages vividly reflect the dramatic circumstances of the artist's life. Malevich attacked from all sides, accused of unnecessary and individualistic work of his laboratory at the State Institute of Art History, prevented the opening of exhibitions of his comrades Filonov and Tatlin. Loudly complaining to the official, Malevich does not ask for anything specific, but between the lines reads a desperate plea for protection. Shutko's patronage the painter will really need very soon: in September 1930 Malevich is arrested and kept in "Kresty" for about three months, regularly interrogated. It is believed that it was Shutko who was able to save him from the walls.
Kazimir Severinovich did not die in 1935, but his patron lived only a little longer: in 1938 he was repressed. During the arrest, the letters were seized and later given to Shutko's wife. She also gave them to the current owner, a local historian from Yeisk, who wrote a book about Shutko (he was born in Yeisk and even worked there for a while on theater productions together with Malevich).
It is clear that any Malevich's manuscript is of great value today, but in this case we have before us not only a private document, but evidence of the change of epochs: after the freedom and unrestrained experimentation of the 1920s came the reactionism of the 1930s, when all the leftist artistic movements (abstractionism, suprematism, and so on) are out of business. Malevich feels where the wind is blowing, and panics. One of his letters even hints at suicidal thoughts: "There is no strength to live here, it is somehow inconvenient to follow Mayakovsky" (the poet had shot himself a month and a half before, and the tragedy was on everyone's lips). Acquire a piece of art history can not be less than 5 million rubles - this is the starting price of the lot.
Silver coin of Prince Vladimir
Auction house Russiancoins offers numismatists to join the history of the Baptism of Russia. Put up for auction srebrenik was minted during the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich at the end of the X century, when our country only just adopted Orthodoxy. The obverse depicts the Prince himself with a cross in his hand, and next to - trident. On the reverse - Christ Pantocrator. The manufacture of such coins was a matter of image (speaking in modern language). In trade used mainly Byzantine and Arab money, but the first Christian sovereign of Russia wanted to emphasize the independence and commitment to the new faith.
Thus own extraction of silver in Russia was not, therefore for these purposes melted foreign coins. As a consequence, then issued a very few pieces of silver, and today they are considered a great rarity, especially in good preservation.
The lot presented at the auction has a hole and highly irregular edges, but the image itself on both sides is quite well readable. And this is especially important, because the silver coins were distinguished by more elaborate images of rulers and the Lord than later Old Russian coins. In fact, they are works of art similar to iconography and architecture.
For such a rarity, the starting price of 1 million rubles seems quite small, but in the process of bidding it will surely grow.
Bentley retro car
Perhaps one of the most expensive lots of the month - Bentley 1931, exhibited at the automobile auction Sotheby's. Its history is as follows. In 1930, the founder of the famous British firm Walter Owen Bentley developed his latest model: the Bentley 8L with a six-cylinder eight-liter engine. At the time, it was the most powerful and luxurious car in England. However, the demand was small, so the company produced only 100 copies. Already in 1931 the main competitor - Rolls-Royce - absorbed Bentley, so the 8L turned out to be the swan song of the independent company.
A 1931 Bentley automobile
It is believed that 75 copies of the 8L have survived. But the version put up for auction is unique in its own way. Its first owner was the American tycoon Conrad Matthiessen, the youngest, who together with his two brothers controlled almost all sugar production in the United States. Having bought the car directly from Bentley, Matthiessen shipped it across the Atlantic and then across the continent to California, where Walter Murphy's company produced a customized body for the 8L. In charge of this work was a young Franklin Hershey, who years later would make the now iconic Ford Thunderbird (you've probably seen it in American movies of the 1950s and 1970s).
The car was later restored, but all mechanical parts remained original. Hence the impressive price tag: from $2.75 million to $3.25 million.
Jeff Beck's guitar
Jeff Beck, one of the world's most famous guitarists, passed away two years ago, in January 2023. And, as it often happens, shortly after the sad event it became known that his collection of personal belongings will go under the hammer. Given the importance of the figure, the auction house Christie's took up the cause. A total of 127 lots, among which there are amplifiers, acoustics, analog drum machine, cases for transporting instruments, but the main thing, of course, guitars virtuoso.
The cheapest of them are estimated at £300-500, therefore, they are affordable even to not very wealthy collectors (however, customers from Russia should be ready for various difficulties in payment and receipt of winning lots), well, and the top copy - Gibson Oxblood Les Paul 1954 - is estimated at £350-500 thousand. Fair enough. The guitar was one of Beck's favorites. Debuting with it on November 11, 1972 at a concert in New Orleans, Jeff used it as the main for two years, including the recording of the hit Superstition with Stevie Wonder.
What's also interesting is that the guitar was custom reworked, but before it even got to Beck. In its original form, it was bought by musician Buddy Davis, a Beck fan. He then sold it to Memphis musical instrument store Strings & Things, where at the request of the new buyer they made a number of changes and painted the body a dark chocolate color. However, the man didn't like the result and refused to buy it, so the store turned to Davis again. He had already appreciated the changes and bought the guitar back. And when Beck came to town, he showed his treasure to him, and Jeff wanted it for himself at $100, a fifth of the price. No refusal, of course.
