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53
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53. * Grisha Bruskin (Russian, born 1945)
See original version (French)
53
-
53. * Grisha Bruskin (Russian, born 1945)
See original version (French)
Estimate €30,000 - €40,000
Voluntary lot
Description
53. * Grisha Bruskin (Russian, born 1945)
Alefbet
signed in Cyrillic (bottom right) on each of the four canvases
oil on canvas
110 x 76 cm (43 5/16 x 29 15/16 in).
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist in Moscow
Collection of Eric Peschler, Switzerland
Thence by descent to the present owner
“Alefbet” is a typological dictionary, visualising characters from Jewish history and mythology. “It interested me as an experiment,” explains Bruskin, “to explore, at the level of the artist’s gesture, what national art actually is. If such a thing exists, what elements does it consist of? This fitted into my own artistic mythology and complemented everything I had done before and since. That is why I called these figures ‘Figures of Pure Imagination’. They are by no means sacred art; rather, they are an attempt to fill a void – a sort of glass bead game.”
In creating this work, Bruskin drew on the Second Commandment – “You shall not make for yourself an idol” – which is most often interpreted as a prohibition against depicting human beings. Although Judaism has never had a single central religious authority, and each community has interpreted this prohibition in its own way, representations of the human figure do exist. They can be found in the frescoes of ancient synagogues, in mosaics, and in printed works. Nevertheless, a coherent visual language corresponding to the Jewish mindset never emerged.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
The Eric A. Peschler Collection: Non-Conformist Art of the Soviet Era
Auction location
Auction time
10/05/2026 at 12:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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