Version of Lviv National Opera’s curtain up for auction at Sotheby's

A version of the Parnassus theatrical curtain by Polish artist Henryk Siemiradzki, which has adorned the Lviv National Opera for over a century, goes up for auction at Sotheby's.

"According to the official website of the Sotheby's auction, a unique piece of art has been put up for sale – a version of the Parnassus theatrical curtain by Polish artist Henryk Siemiradzki, reduced in size. The estimated cost is about GBP 600,000. The original curtain has been kept at the Lviv National Opera for over 100 years. The original measures 6 by 9 metres. Its reduced copy measuring 91x147 centimetres, which was put up for auction for the first time, was created by the artist after writing a full-size curtain," the press service of the Lviv National Opera posted on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

“The composition, which is an almost exact reproduction of the first version, is executed in oil on canvas. However, instead of a traditional ground, the canvas was coated with a protein-based medium (most likely gelatin) containing photosensitive silver compounds,” reads the catalogue note on the Sotheby's website.

Kept in the same family for over a century and never shown in public, Henryk Siemiradzki’s Parnassus, dated 1900, is an exciting rediscovery for collectors and art historians alike.

“It is a version, reduced in size, of the artist’s last great work, and one of his most celebrated, the curtain of the Opera House in Lviv. Siemiradzki started working on the curtain in 1899, having previously demonstrated his talent for large-scale compositions with the curtain for the Krakow Opera House,” reads the note.

Photo credit: sothebys.com

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