Gene Shapiro Auctions LLC has announced an important auction of Russian artwork to be held on April 17, 2008 in New York City. The auction will take place on the fourth floor of the Metropolitan Pavilion, located at 123 West 18th Street in Manhattan. The auction itself will begin at 10 AM on the 17th, and there will be a full day of exhibition and preview for interested bidders at the same location from 12 PM to 9PM on the 16th of April.

The April 17th auction will comprise approximately 260 lots. Of these lots, approximately 90% are by Russian artists. The remaining 10% are works by European old masters as well as 19th century European paintings and genre scenes. Shapiro describes his reasoning for structuring the auction in this way as follows, “Of course this is a predominantly Russian auction. However, I want to provide my Russian collectors with an opportunity to buy beautiful Italian, Flemish, and French old master paintings as well. I believe that the best collections are those that comprise a mixture of art from different time periods, as well as different nationalities. Russian collectors are educated collectors whose knowledge of art history transcends ethnic and national lines. One need only visit the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg once to know of Russians’ centuries-old appreciation and patronage of the old masters. My auction will always sell Russian paintings, but we also continue to sell important works by European, American, and other talented artists from around the globe.”

In addition to posting the entire catalog online on their website, www.geneshapiro.com, Gene Shapiro Auctions is publishing a printed catalog of the entire auction, which can also be ordered online or by phone/fax. The auction house can be reached at +1 (917) 330-1482, by fax at +1 (215) 745-1056, or by email at info@geneshapiro.com. Online bidding available will also be available through ebayliveauctions.

Posted: 03|29|08 at 10:06 am. Filed under: Auction News.