My auction buddy Janet had seen the painting of what she thought was a black woman on the auction house website. So, when we arrived there Sunday, she searched among the artwork for it.
It certainly looked like a black woman, her features soft, the skin a little light, faint red lipstick on her lips. She had been painted by a Philadelphia artist named Nadine Karnow, whom I had never heard of.
Karnow was also a musician, teacher and illustrator from a creative and artistic family of Russian heritage. She had performed with the Philadelphia Balalaika Orchestra in the 1950s and 1960s.
Her presence was all around the auction house. She died last year, and many pieces of her collection – and some that apparently belonged to or was shared with her parents – were up for auction. They were in every room: sculptures, Russian nesting dolls, Russian religious icons, musical instruments, paintings, 
sketchbooks, brushes and paints, and likely more that I missed. I bought three wooden portfolios that I’m sure belonged to her or her mother.
I had never seen so much of someone’s life so visible at auction before. There was no doubt about which pieces belonged to the Karnow family. You could see Karnow’s style in the sculptures, her family legacy in the nesting dolls and religious icons. On tray tables in the back – where the cheaper items were sold in box lots – were the used paint brushes, paints, art supplies, sketchbooks and a ceramic wall-hanging of a woman.
Everywhere you turned, you bumped into them. It was like walking into their private lives.
There was a lovely oil painting by Karnow’s mother Ann of her daughter, a blue ribbon in her hair (it sold for $15). The auctioneer noted at one point that her father was a model airplane designer. In another room at the auction house, I came across a small pencil drawing that Karnow had done of her father for Father’s Day 1962.
Karnow’s sculptures filled several shelves and cases in one room of the auction house. There were so many pieces that it was overwhelming. Three sculptures that resembled houses or structures sold for $50 each; busts, $12-$17 each and vases, up to $12.50 each. Some busts went for $4 each.
Other auction cases held Russian nesting dolls, about 50 of them, in sizes small to large. These dolls are commonly referred to as babushkas but are actually matryoshka dolls. Nesting dolls – larger ones open to reveal small ones – are among the most popular Russian souvenirs. Traditionally, they are painted as Russian women in costumes.
One buyer, a regular at the auction house, outbidded everyone on the dolls, which were sold individually. A row of nine small dolls went for $11 each. Five medium to large ones, $10 each. Three trays of small ones and other figures went for $23 per tray.
My auction buddy managed to get her painting. To her chagrin, the auctioneer mentioned that it was a black woman. That sparked interest in the room. We’ve found that most items that are African American-related – especially black memorabilia – sell at auction. And we sometimes find ourselves in bidding wars for them.
This time, she was lucky. She got the painting for $15.
