Lot 241: Sergei Shablavin , Russian b.1944 Disappearance, 1991 oil on canvas

signed, titled and inscribed in Cyrillic and dated 1991 (on the reverse) oil on canvas

measurements tondo: 33 by 33 in. alternate measurements 84 by 84 cm

Berthy Quaedvlieg, Rolf Wedewer, and Peter van Rooy, Sergey Shablavin: Between Emptiness and Hope, Netherlands, Quaedvlieg Modern Fine Art, 2004, p. 85, illustrated

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PRIVATE EUROPEAN COLLECTION
While working as a scientist at the Physical Engineering Institute, Shablavin researched the optical laws of light diffusion, the phenomena of interference and diffraction, and color theory, along with the psychology of the perception of light, shapes, and colors. This scholarly research had a major impact on his development as an artist.

Shablavin started working on circular canvases in the mid-1970s, and the format became part of the artist's signature style. Space in these works is perceived spherically, and objects look as if they are seen from afar--at times as if from outer space.

In this work from the series Disappearance (also known as Remembrances), Shablavin sought to capture the disappearance of memory--the process in which a person's impressions become mere remembrances, losing their freshness, clarity, and most of their details, and preserving only their essence. The artist chose a simple motif--a summer landscape set in a field--which he inserted into a sphere and surrounded with a bluish-gray space to create a sense of quiet contemplation. The circular structure of the work alludes to the infinity of space and the universe.