The Old Marriage Custom by Michael Kashalos (1885-1974) is a captivating painting by the most celebrated Cypriot primitive artist of the 20th century. “I love this painting of Michael Kashalos like I love everything authentic and inimitable. His canvas offers us the experience of a memory precisely captured and yet ethereal and utterly seductive, “says Ritsa Kyriacou Managing Director of Cypria.
The fascinating Old Marriage Custom (estimated value €22 000 – 35 000) is among the artworks expected to command top interest at Cypria’s Winter 2021 Fine Art Auction. The evening sale will be held on the 29th of November at Polihoros En Tipis in Nicosia.
The sale brings to the market a total of 146 offerings including seminal artworks by Cypriot, Greek and European Artists from the 19th Century to in-demand contemporaries working today. The superb collection includes also ceramics, rare maps and editions. The entire collection is currently on display at Gallery K and will remain open to public viewing until the 29th of November. The sale will be live streamed worldwide through the international art sale platform www.invaluable.com giving investors the opportunity to place on-line bids.
Expected to draw enthusiastic bidding is also an extremely rare and immensely beautiful 18th century Crucifix (estimated value €25 000 – 40 000), which once crowned the iconostasis leading to the altar of a Greek parish church most likely in Asia Minor. The valuable artefact from the Greek Orthodox world is a piece of art in its own right and the highest-priced artwork of the auction.
Highlights also include Pichet et Pommes (estimated value €8 000 – 12 000) by the great French painter Jean Souverbie (1891-1981), and Still Life with Lobster (estimated value €7 000 – 12 000) by Pericles Pantazis, one of the most important Greek Impressionists of the 19th century. A Game of Chess (estimated value €4 000 – 6 000) by renowned British painter Terry Frost is a fascinating painting which Frost rendered in condensed form skilfully manipulating his blue and black colours to create abstraction.
Among artworks expected to command top interest is a beautiful still life by Telemachos Kanthos (1910 – 1993) titled White Cloth, Fruit in a Clay Pot (est. €4 500 – 7 000) and the Sitting Woman (est. €4 000 – 6 000) a fascinating cubist composition with clear lines by renowned Christoforos Savva. In the Arena N1 (est. €5 000 – 7 500) by Apostolos Yayannos and Figures in Red by Dimitris Mytaras (est. €6 500 – 10 000) are also expected to fascinate collectors with their imaginative motifs.
Greek Iconostasis Crucifix – Circa 1750, Gesso, gold leaf and golden polish on wood, 155 x 127 x 10 cm, Provenance: Christie’s London, Private Collection UK (estimated value €25 000 – 40 000)
The sale’s highest-priced piece of art and the ultimate collector’s piece is an extremely rare and immensely beautiful 18th century Crucifix (estimated value €25 000 – 40 000) which once crowned the iconostasis leading to the altar of a Greek parish church that was most likely located in Asia Minor. The lifeless body of Christ on the cross is surrounded by the apocalyptic personifications of the Evangelists on the trefoil finials, holding the Gospels. The Crucifix is framed by extensive carved wooden artwork with intertwining gilded foliage with dates and palmettes strongly alluding to the Greek iconographic and stylistic characteristics of 18th Century Asia Minor.
Old Marriage Custom – Michael Kashalos (1885-1974) oil on canvas 72 x 102 cm (estimated value €22 000 – 35 000)
Kashalos is noted for the spontaneity with which he creates floating figures on flat surfaces. His subject matter is 20th century rural Cyprus. He approaches it with an intention to organise it into a social experience while his artistic instinct leads him to pursue that which is always magically hidden and evasive. In Old Marriage Custom he approaches his subject matter through the religiosity that is created by the outwardly figure of the white bride. The red lines, which “simulate” the visual path of light emitting from the lamp on the ceiling seem to de-materialize space elevating the composition to an ethereal plane. A certain “quietness” imbues the painting with an element of intimacy making it perhaps one of the best of the Old Marriage Customs paintings of Kashalos.
Pretty Woman – Dimitris Mytaras (1934-2017) acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm (estimated value €9 000 – 15 000)
The seductive Pretty Woman rates high among artworks expected to draw enthusiastic bidding at the auction. The coexistence of contradictory elements, which is characteristic of Mytaras is skilfully mastered in this painting through the enchanting female figure and the dragon laying entwined in each other’s arms. The artist’s lush, explosive colour adds to the intensity of his subject matter. The ensuing paradoxicality of the composition gradually loses its coarseness as the viewer becomes all the more enraptured in the gentle and joyous embrace of woman and dragon.
Pichet et Pommes – Jean Souverbie (1891-1981) oil on canvas, 47 x 38.5 cm, Provenance: Christie’s London, Private Collection UK (estimated value €8 000 – 12 000)
During his lifetime Souverbie has been one of France’s most important artists. He left behind him a powerful and abundant work. Many of his paintings are kept in museums in Europe and the United States. In the 1920s Souverbie turned toward cubism, influenced mostly by the work of Braque. Close inspection of Pichet et Pommes, which Souverbie painted in 1963 reveals the painter’s cubist influences and suggests that Souverbie organised his composition to emphasize the dramatic effect between objects and dimensions. The muted colours of the background are in contrast with the intensity and depth of the greens in the complex arrangement creating an atmospheric perspective and imbuing the painting with a mystical quality.
Still Life With Lobster – Pericles Pantazis (1849-1884) watercolour on paper, 35.5 x 50 cm (estimated value €7 000 – 12 000)
In 1872 Greek impressionist Pericles Pantazis settled in Brussels where he became friends with Guillaume Vogels. Pantazis’s creative work includes scenes from daily life, still lifes, portraits and landscapes which reflect the artistic trends of the 19th century. The post-impressionistic Still Life with Lobster fascinates the viewer with its exquisite colour gamut. The painter’s lush colour and quick brush strokes create a dance-like movement that permeates the entire composition. His renaissance-like gentle manipulations of greens and yellows create a feeling of floating upward rendering the composition in mysterious light.
When Public viewing until November 29
Where GALLERY K
Location 14 Evrou Street, 2003 Strovolos, Nicosia
Tel +357 22 34 11 22
Fax +357 22 34 11 24
CYPRIA K. AUCTIONS LIMITED
