Rare Vasili Polenov works up for auction

Two rare paintings by the celebrated Russian artist Vasili Polenov are to go up for auction next month at Bonhams.

“He That is Without Sin” is expected to fetch between £1.2 million and £1.8 million when it comes under the hammer on November 30, and “He is Guilty of Death" somewhere between £600,000 and £800,000.

The two paintings were part of a series of sixty paintings entitled “Life of Christ”, which took two decades to complete and was only once exhibited in its entirety in Russia in 1909.

“He That is Without Sin” is a reference to John 8:7, depicting the moment when Jesus, rather than passing judgement on the woman caught in adultery, tells the crowd that whoever is without sin may throw the first stone.

This message of humanism, forgiveness and love is quintessential to Polenov’s work and is one that he repeatedly returned to by re-working this scene compositionally and artistically.

“He is Guilty of Death” refers to Matthew 26:66 and the moment when Jesus is made to stand before the Sanhedrin. In the poignant work, Christ stands as a lonely figure before the condemning judges.

The paintings reportedly narrowly missed being put on the ill-fated Titanic after the exhibition was scheduled to go on display in America. Due to a shipment delay, the series escaped the disastrous journey but ended up being divided among various Russian art museums.

Yelena Harbick, Director of Russian Fine and Decorative Arts comments, “These are unquestionably the most important works by the artist to ever come up for auction. We anticipate that their unparalleled artistic importance, exceptional provenance and fascinating history will generate a considerable interest not only among Russian private collectors and institutional buyers, but from international collectors as well.”