Lot 518: Mikhail Shvartsman , Krepost' glavy, 1978-1987

tempera on canvas mounted on board

measurements 41 1/4 by 41 1/4 in. alternate measurements 105 by 105 cm

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

The desire to give voice to personal spiritual experience was central to Mikhail Shvartsman's creative practice. In the 1950s Shvartsman--who at an early age was made aware of the horrors of Stalinism, when his father was arrested--set out to cultivate a system for expressing his own spiritual experience. In the 1970s, the artist began experimenting with abstraction. The result of Shvartsman's artistic quest was his "hieratures"--complicated painted tectonic constructions that unite enduring traditions with more recent theoretical, spiritual, and artistic developments: ancient Russian painting traditions, theosophical ideas developed in the early twentieth century, and magical realism of the mid-twentieth century. Though abstract, hieratures were inspired by and intended to stimulate viewers' associations with sacred art forms and images of the past, among them mystic signs, temples, and idol figures.

Of all the sacred art forms evoked by the hierature, perhaps the most important is the Orthodox religious icon. The very medium of the hierature--oil on panel--likens it to the icon. Serving as a space where religious thought meets artistic experience, the hierature also functions in a manner akin to that of the icon, with the latter's intermediary status between the earthly and heavenly realms. His close identification with the hierature is reflected in the fact that instead of the term "artist" Shvartsman--who led a secluded existence, and whose paintings rarely left his studio--preferred the moniker "hierat," which comes from the Greek word "heiros," meaning "holy," "sacred," or "priest."

Shvartsman's hieratures invite comparison with the Suprematist works of Kazimir Malevich. Just as Malevich considered Suprematism not only a style of painting but also the basis for transforming everyday life, Shvartsman regarded his hieratures as designs for a new architecture, "a new habitational environment." Both artists also shared the desire to rebuild consciousness and life on the basis of eternal laws. However, there were important differences been the two, especially regarding their attitudes toward the past; whereas Malevich had endeavored to create something absolutely new and lacking any reference to the objective world, Shvartsman appreciated the use of symbolism and retrospection.