NEW YORK — Aleksei Mikhailovich Remizov’s “U Lisy Bal,” (“At the Fox’s Ball”) from 1939 sold for $62,500 at Bonhams June 26 auction of Russian Literature and Works on Paper. The exquisite calligraphic poem, written in Russian, French and German, was accompanied by four eccentric ink drawings. An avant-garde take on the fables of Reynard the Fox, “U Lisy Bal” makes it easy to see why Remizov was such a polarizing figure in European literary circles.
Remizov’s 1952 original manuscript fairytale “Listotryas. No. 5” was also an auction highlight, realizing $31,250. Featuring a bizarre illustration of a “wolf-omnivore,” the distinctive manuscript, written in Remizov’s signature script, was written while the artist lived in exile in Paris. The majority of the Russian émigré literary community shunned Remizov because he wished to return to the USSR, and his works published in exile are marked by depictions of nightmarish creatures. His talents were not entirely ignored, though — Remizov managed to garner the support of several literary notables during this period, including James Joyce.