A rare and charming painting by one of the 20th century’s most famous modern abstract painters, Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), is being offered at auction in London, after spending manyb years in a private collection. Lot 35 - “Au bord de la mer” - is expected to fetch £100,000-150,000 at Bonhams’ Russian Sale on 24 November 2008.

The painting could not be more different from the abstract stylised pictures, which made the artist so famous, and it is one of his most important early works on paper. The 29cm x 29cm painting in tempera depicts a young woman dressed in a yellow dress and scarlet shawl sitting on a bench by the sea. Figures can be seen in the background strolling along the beach while yachts sail across the blue sea in the distance.

“Au bord de la mer” was exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1904. Latterly, it was exhibited in many galleries in the Soviet Union when it belonged to the known Russian collector Yakov Rubenstein.

Almost 250 lots of pictures and works of art, spanning the 19th century through to the present day, worth over £5-million are being offered by Bonhams for this Russian Sale.

The auction will present Imperial treasures by Fabergé, 19th century paintings by Alexei Harlamoff and Vladimir Makovsky, avant-garde works by Alexandra Exter, Natalia Goncharova, Marianna Verevkina and Alexander Archipenko, and post war art by Oleg Tselkov, Vladimir Nemukhin, Shimon Okshteyn, Sergei Volkov and Konstantin Zvezdochetov.

For further information on the above Lots or other items in Bonhams’ Russian Sale, please go to www.bonhams.com/russian

Posted: 11|17|08 at 9:58 am. Filed under: UK News.