NATALIA NESTEROVA (1944-2022) Bird hunting a fish

oil on canvas signed with initials in Cyrillic ‘NN’; also signed, titled in Cyrillic and dated 1988 (on the reverse) 130 x 140 cm painted in 1988 Provenance: Sotheby’s, London, The Russian Sale, 01.12.2005, lot 219 Private collection Natalia Nesterova, a Russian contemporary artist and an important figure within the second wave of the Russian avant-garde, is known for her stylised, somewhat primitivist manner. Painted in 1988, Bird Hunting Fish brings together two recurring motifs in her work: birds and playing cards. The dove—carrying clear Christian connotations—introduces a sense of the sacred or transcendent, while the card motif evokes chance and destiny. In this work, Nesterova reflects on the interplay of hope and fate.