Russian oligart
Words | Virginia Blackburn The fabulously wealthy may have the upper hand when it comes to acquiring the big names in Russian art, but new trends and emerging talent means the category is ripe for collectors with much barer budgets, too RUSSIA, AS SIR Winston Churchill famously said, is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” but then [...]
Words | Virginia Blackburn
The fabulously wealthy may have the upper hand when it comes to acquiring the big names in Russian art,
but new trends and emerging talent means the category is ripe for collectors with much barer budgets, too
alt="Bathing the Red Horse, 1912, by the Russian master Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin"
src="http://www.bmivoyager.com/images/2008/apr/voyager_apr_097.jpg">
RUSSIA, AS SIR Winston Churchill famously
said, is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery
inside an enigma,” but then how does that
explain Russian art? Undoubtedly it’s very
popular indeed, is the answer. As with other
fast-developing economies, such as China
and India, increasing sections of Russian
society are becoming wealthier, and buying
first the grand house and then something to put on the walls.
Towards the end of last year, a sale of Russian art by
Christie’s sent collectors into a frenzy. A Fabergé egg-shaped
clock made in St Petersburg in 1902, featuring a diamond-set
cockerel, sold for £8,980,500 to a private collector, making
it the most expensive Russian decorative artwork ever sold.
Meanwhile, sales of Russian art overall have soared: the
combined total sales of Sotheby’s and Christie’s in 2007 was
about £165.6 million, a 45% rise since the previous year.
“What is happening is typical of a rapidly developing
country,” says William MacDougall, director of MacDougall’s
Auctions, the only auction house specialising in Russian art
in London and which also has a presence in Moscow and
Kiev. “There are an awful lot of millionaires chasing a small
amount of art, because Russian secular art has only existed
for about 250 years. Before that it was icons,” MacDougall
explains. “In Western art, purely religious art gave way to
secular at the time of the Renaissance, but in Russia that
didn’t happen for another 200 years.”
alt="The oilpainting Malvy, 1921, by Peter Konchalovsky"
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It is impossible to list every variant of Russian art as
it has developed since then, but, very broadly speaking,
secular Russian art began in the 18th century, at the time
of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Its high point
was roughly 1820 to 1917, which is the period most sought
after by collectors, after which came constructivism, Soviet
socialist realism and lastly, contemporary and modern art.
All these areas attract their aficionados, and collectors are
beginning to develop their tastes.
“When newly wealthy businessmen started buying in
the early 1990s they were fairly conservative and wanted
names that were already famous such as Mikhail Nesterov,
Ilya Repin, Konstantin Makovsky and Peter Konchalovsky,”
says MacDougall – a Konchalovsky sold at MacDougall’s
November 2007 auction for £1,036,000, a world record. “Now
they’re becoming more adventurous and their children are
also starting to buy,” he adds. “Post-war and contemporary
art have also become extremely popular, although there
is still little interest in socialist realism – possibly because
they already know it far too well.” MacDougall does,
however, believe the area is “ripe for a revival”.
Catherine Arsenieva, a London-based Russian art critic,
who advises collectors and co-ordinates projects for the State
Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, agrees. She believes
that a decade from now socialist realism could be the new
growth area. “When this generation of collectors has gone it
will be replaced by people who are interested in socialist art,”
she says. “If you put aside the ideological element, a lot of it
is fantastically executed and very digestible. Names such as
Yuri Pimenov, Boris Ioganson and Sergei Gerasimov are all
fantastic artists and the market will soon catch up.”
alt="Manifesto Of October 17th, 1905, 1911,by Ilya Repin"
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In some ways it already has – most of these artists
are already beyond the means of any but the wealthiest
collectors. But it is possible to buy good Russian contemporary
art for thousands, and even hundreds, of pounds, by rising
artists who are as popular in Britain as they are in Russia.
Jayne Rumsey owns the Iona House Gallery, based in
Woodstock, Oxfordshire, which specialises in English,
Scottish and Russian art. “What is particularly appealing
about modern Russian artists, and this does not apply to
many modern British artists, is that they have all been
formally trained to paint,” she says. “I represent two Russian
painters, Katya and Valery Gridnev, who have a son, Fedor,
who is also turning out to be artistic. They moved to the UK
nine years ago. Katya took Fedor around a series of British
art colleges a few years ago and from what she saw on
offer, she said she would be better off teaching him herself.”
alt="The Fabergé clock, which sold for just under £9 million last November"
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The Gridnevs are established and Katya, who paints in
pastels, commands about £3,000 upwards, while her husband
Valery, who paints in oils, goes upwards of £12,500.
But there are many up-and-coming artists who are far
cheaper than that. Vladimir Rumyantsev, who studied in St
Petersburg, produces charming watercolours, which start at
about £600. Another artist who works in very beautiful oils,
Natalya Sultanova, starts at about £1,000.
Of course, as with every area in the art market, no one
really knows what is going to happen next. The advice, as
ever, is to buy because you like something, not because it’s
an investment. Nonetheless, the choice on offer is huge
and can cater from the humblest to the most expansive of
collectors. As the Russians put it, na’zdorovie, or cheers.
HOW TO START
- The best way to acquaint yourself with Russian art
is to visit one of the great European museums, such
as the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. If
you are unable to get there, the Royal Academy Of
Arts in London is holding a major exhibition of French
and Russian master paintings until 18 April 2008;
www.hermitagemuseum.org,
www.royalacademy.org.uk - Every August there is a Russian art festival in Cannes
at the Palais des Festivals; www.palaisdesfestivals.com - MacDougall’s Auctions in London holds two sales
during the year. About 90% of buyers are Russian and
90% of sellers are from the West, +44 (0)20 7389 8160;
www.macdougallauction.com -
Oxfordshire’s Iona House Gallery holds an annual
exhibition of Russian art throughout the summer, as
well as featuring individual artists throughout the year,
+ 44 (0)1993 811 464; www.ionahousegallery.org -
Sotheby’s has three Russian art sales a year, two
in London and one in New York, as well as an annual
Russian contemporary art sale in London. Christie’s also
holds three Russian sales, with two in London and one
in New York;www.sotheb ys.co.uk,
www.christies.com -
As with so much these days, the internet is a good
place to start looking. Online galleries include
www.russianartgallery.com
andwww.salonrusse.comVisit Flybmi.com to book flights
