Dmitri Prigov - FRAU (Original drawing, 1990s)
Provenance: Litfond Auction House, Auction No. 646: Important Sale: Painting, Graphics and Decorative Art, Lot 138 - one of the largest and most authoritative auction houses in Russia
• Title: “FRAU”
• Date: 1990s
• Medium: paper (book page), ballpoint pen
• Dimensions: 8.46 x 5.71 in (21.5 × 14.5 cm)
• Signature: not signed
• Certificate of Authenticity
Dmitri Aleksandrovich Prigov (1940–2007) was a central figure of Moscow Conceptualism and one of the most influential artists and writers of the late Soviet and post-Soviet period. His practice encompassed visual art, poetry, performance, theory, and installation, dissolving the boundaries between text and image, literature and visual statement.
The work “FRAU” belongs to Prigov’s mature period of the 1990s, when he intensely explored archetypal figures, linguistic clichés, and cultural constructions of power, identity, and social roles. The use of a book page as the support is emblematic of Prigov’s artistic method, where language itself becomes a visual and conceptual medium.
This work is accompanied by a documented auction provenance and a certificate of authenticity issued by Litfond, one of the largest and most authoritative auction houses in Russia, reinforcing its significance for both institutional and private collections.
Prigov’s career was marked by both persecution and international recognition. In 1986, he was arrested by the KGB after performing a poetic street action and was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital, before being released following protests by leading cultural figures, including poet Bella Akhmadulina.
His legacy has since been firmly established within the global art canon: in 2011, the Hermitage Museum presented a major monographic exhibition of Prigov’s work in Venice during the 54th Venice Biennale.
