The art market for many in Ukraine is still the dark side. the site decided to find out the answers to all the questions that you wanted to ask, but did not know to whom: in a large interview, an art market expert, co-founder of the Golden Section auction house, Alexei Vasilenko talks about the peculiarities of the auction house, which was the first to start working with contemporary art in Ukraine, the sale and purchase of works of art, the distinctions of a Ukrainian collector, the most expensive artists and much more.

- Alexey, please tell us at what moment and why did the Golden Section auction house appear?

- My brother and I were interested in art from an early age, and then, when we grew up, my father brought us to the collectors' club, which still takes place every Saturday at the Expocentre on Levoberezhnaya. Everyone who collects anything, from stamps to folk icons, pictures and decorative and applied art, gathered there. There, for many years, we watched, got acquainted, communicated ... In the early 2000s, we did a little dealership (we bought something, sold something) and studied at the same time. In 2004, they decided to create an auction house, as they realized that the market was not fully covered, there were certain empty niches - in Ukraine at that time there were only a few auction houses that held official auctions for art objects. Over time, I gained experience in both auctions and private sales. In 2009, for the same reason, we opened a department of contemporary art, and over time we held 3 more auctions for Ukrainian design and photography.

Brothers Alexey and Mikhail Vasilenko

During the existence of the "Golden Section", we have designed about 200 collections of different directions, from classical Ukrainian and Russian art to contemporary. Recently it was planned to enter the European market. Before the revolutionary events, we planned to open a representative office in London and systematically hold an auction of Eastern European art there, presenting artists from 9 countries in the auction collection. Today this project is frozen, but we will return to it as soon as the situation in the country stabilizes.

- They say that the art market and art are two completely different, non-intersecting spheres, they say, commerce is always, first of all, commerce. What do you think about this as a person who constantly works with the purchase and sale of works of art?

- I absolutely disagree. Non-art doesn't cost money. I'll give you a simple example - Gapchinskaya, a fully commercialized artist who promoted his brand. Her works will never be able to be sold at auctions, they simply will not be bought by anyone. Her paintings delight children and they have their own goal, but this is not art, in the sense in which it is interpreted. It's like a Rado watch, in which there is nothing special, but the company-creator of which at one time carried out an advertising campaign in such a way that in certain circles and at a certain period of time everyone dreamed of wearing them on the wrist. Accordingly, the prices for them have jumped in due time.

- How, then, are prices for artists' work formed?

- A work of art is worth what they are willing to pay for it. For example, for Mamsikov's "strong" work, we can name $ 50,000, but no one will pay more than $ 15,000. Because today, given the market situation and the number of collectors eager to have his work, it costs, plus or minus, exactly this money.

A lot of factors influence pricing. In all directions and trends, the name of the artist is primarily important. For Aivazovsky, for example, there will be one order of prices, for Klodt (Mikhail Konstantinovich Klodt von Yurgensburg - Russian landscape painter of the second half of the 19th century - ed.) - another. And then, in the artist's work there are a lot of price-forming factors, starting with the period, size, technique, and so on. The extent to which this artist is represented in the market is also of great importance. If there is a shortage of his works on the market - all of them are in museums and private collections, while the desire to own the work of this artist is stable - the cost will only grow.

S. Shishko "View of Ayu-Dag", 1956

Why is Western classical and modern Art worth such crazy money? It is not only a matter of an established and broad market, it is also a matter of competitiveness among buyers. Who is more eager to have this or that piece of art, you know? Any record sales at auctions always set a certain level for the secondary market, the average cost per artist-record holder then rises by 10-15%.

One of the important reasons why customers are afraid to buy art is that prices in Ukraine are very fluctuating, there is no stability. This happens because artists are often forced to play two roles: a creator and a businessman, while the latter often fails due to a lack of knowledge of the principles of the market's functionality. For a number of reasons, most often to simply buy canvas and paints, artists undervalue their work too much, which over time gives the collector the impression that galleries and auction houses are selling paintings at inflated prices.

“It is often said that there is no art market in Ukraine. What do you say?

- Now the art market in Ukraine is in the stage of formation, but we do not have an elementary culture of the art market. Throughout the civilized world, there is a clear system and a certain dogma according to which the market operates: galleries, auction houses, market agents - all participants very comfortably and naturally interact with each other. Each fulfills its necessary function. In Ukraine, however, there is chaos and a vicious circle: galleries do not have enough funds to allow themselves to “secure” the artists, promoting them in the domestic and international markets, thereby shaping their pricing policy.

There is no money, because the number of buyers is critically small. And the latter are not, since there is no culture of gathering, and, generally speaking, no love for art on a national scale.

There is no money, because there is a critically small number of buyers (collectors). And the latter are not, since there is no culture of gathering, and, generally speaking, no love for art on a national scale. This is the main problem of today's art market in Ukraine. If, for example, take the segment of contemporary art, in the whole country you can count, if you're lucky, up to a hundred collectors. By the way, in England, the attitude towards art is formed from an early age. The tradition is so deeply rooted that the average family distributes the family budget in such a way as to allocate funds every six months or a year to purchase a painting, sculpture, photography, etc. That is, among the distributions of money for food, clothing, studies, utilities, travel, there is also a budget for the purchase of an art object. It is difficult to imagine such a depth of attitude to the art of a post-Soviet person today.

- That is, abroad interest in art is instilled from school?

- FROM kindergarten! In educational programs adapted for children, a love of music, painting, literature, and design is instilled. Art history is taught in high school. Since there is no such tradition in Ukraine, for many people, when they grow up, life and personal values \u200b\u200bare shifted. Most people just don't understand why art should cost more than two hundred dollars. And at the same time, for the majority, the super-high cost of, for example, watches is very transparent and understandable.

- Who are your clients? Describe the average person who continually purchases artwork from you for their collection.

- Our buyer is often not a politician. Which, by the way, is very strange when compared with the same Europe or America. Our clients are from different fields of activity, but they are distinguished by their education and constant search for something new. This is an important quality for the formation of a collection. After deciding on an artist, period and direction, you are constantly on the lookout - you visit fairs, flea markets, follow auctions, acquire, over time, some works from the collection you sell, change, etc. This is a drive. And the feeling when you manage to buy a masterpiece for a penny is incomparable with anything.

But it can be noted that buyers classical art and modern - completely different types. A contemporary art collector is often a young successful businessman, 25-40 years old. The classic collector is an older man, 40 - 60 years old, more conservative, with firm traditional views. And theoretically, a collector of classical art can switch to modern, but a collector of contemporary art is unlikely to start collecting classic later. Although, of course, everything is very individual.

- You say that there are very few politicians among your clients. Maybe you know why Ukrainian officials have no taste at all? Why do they all have a "Mezhyhirya complex"? By the way, have you been to this exhibition?

- I think not for everyone, for the overwhelming majority I agree. No, I was not at the exhibition - I looked at the photos in the news and did not waste time. Everything again rests on education and values. In all countries of the world, the government is corrupt to one degree or another, the world is not ideal. It just happens there in incommensurably smaller volumes. In our country, coming to power, the first thing politicians and officials claim is to have time to “squeeze out” budget money as much as possible, until others come to their place with the same tasks. The European and American politicians have completely different goals - they first of all think about leaving a trace after themselves. Fundamentally different approaches. An elementary example: in Kiev (I will not even talk about the rest of the city) there is practically no urban sculpture. Although, allocating 200-300 thousand dollars from the budget and making a competition is a penny. Today there are independent platforms (one of them is the Kyiv Sculpture Project), which on their own make attempts to develop the culture of urban sculpture in Ukraine, but why is this not of interest to the authorities, even at the city level? And, of course, such organizations as KSP are a drop in the ocean, despite the fact that their activities are difficult to overestimate. But really serious steps in this direction are almost impossible without the support of the country's government, one way or another.

A. Savadov "Ballerina", 2003

- As for non-profit platforms: why is it more prestigious in our country to invest in the purchase of a material work of art, rather than become a sponsor and help some important non-profit project?

- It exists, but also the account goes to a few people and organizations that act as patrons. Much rests against the absence of a law on patronage. For example, Victor Pinchuk, who opened the Pinchuk Art Center. I will not criticize this site, since it, just like its owner, has its own goals. For most companies and individual businessmen, a simple fact remains incomprehensible - patronage, however, like collecting, in addition to educating the viewer, promoting culture and pleasure as such (the moral aspect), also brings very understandable "dividends". Collecting and patronage give a certain status and open doors to a very narrow circle of people. When it comes to European mentality, for them the fact of involvement in art is like a white flag - if you understand art, then you can talk about something, it means that you interesting person... My first education was a musician, I graduated from the Kiev Conservatory, and although now I do not play often, nevertheless, I do not regret my education - it was it that opened a wide inner horizon in me. The same can be said for all creative professions: saying simple languagewhen you pass through the prism of your inner peace art, music or literature, you know how to feel, you become more human.

Nikita Kravtsov "Wounded swimmer", 2014

- You have designed about 200 collections, one hundred of which are contemporary art. But a wide audience knows the name of one Igor Voronov, who periodically demonstrates individual works from his collection. Why is there such a tendency and why is everything so secretive in Ukraine? Is it possible that someday they will show their collections?

- In fact, many collectors are public people, but in general you are right. This is again the specificity of our society. Since the inhabitants of the middle class in our country are several times less than those who are below the poverty line (the capital does not count), and most people think about how to live on $ 300-500 a month - agree, public purchase of a painting for $ 50 thousand and the demonstration of this will evoke not the most positive emotions in them. This is what is for many a brake on the issue of publicity, both as a collector and as a collection.

As for, will they show their collections? I guess yes! The "journey" of art objects from the artist's studio, in most cases, sooner or later ends within the walls of the museum. Often a collection is assembled for this very purpose. Many generations have been devoted to her before the collection is transferred to the museum. New museums are often formed on the basis of these collections.

- Do you need to completely reformat the country's economy in order for the middle class to join the ranks of collectors? Or are there other problematic issues besides economically disadvantageous conditions and poor education?

- This is a process of several generations, in my opinion. First of all, educational programs should appear, systematic. Instead of endless serials, interesting educational programs about culture should be shown on TV. It should be a kind of "cultural zombie". There should be a clear program for the popularization of art, a program for cultural policy in the country as a whole.

Victor Melnichuk "Pink Day", 2014

- Does your auction house somehow try to instill a taste, does something for this?

- Yes, but we are, first of all, a commercial organization. Our goal is to shape the market and the customer. For our potential clients and those who are simply interested, we arrange some semblance of lectures. We talk tete-a-tete about painting schools, compare periods of one artist or another, share literature, invite to exhibitions, etc. Very often a few meetings are enough to ignite a flame in a person, which over the years "flares up" into a fire of passion for art. But everyone comes to this in their own way. If you have a craving for beauty - sooner or later it will show itself, be sure.

- You are the first auction house in Ukraine to start working with contemporary art. Wasn't it scary?

- Fearfully! But we are risky guys! To date, we have held 7 auctions for contemporary art. When we carried out the first one, we completely trusted the opinion of experts (in the content of the collection) and gallery owners (in the pricing policy) when recruiting the collection, which, as a result, affected the sales results. At that time, prices for almost all artists were overpriced. The trades were held with a result of 3% of sales. Step by step, pouring into the environment, we have established ourselves and began to conduct auctions regularly, navigate both the pricing policy and the professional level of artists. Naturally, with this understanding, sales increased. For the buyer, in turn, a certain transparency in the pricing policy, the structure of the art market, etc. began to appear.

Alexander Kurmaz (HOMER) “Untitled”, 2008

- How do you work in the current conditionsviyah after such strong political and social upheavals?

- Organization of an auction is very expensive. To go to zero, you need to sell about 30% of the collection. Due to the situation in the country, many of our clients made a pause in the purchase of art objects, some left the country, so there is no point in holding open auctions now. The art market has noticeably "cooled down" over the past six months, but some dynamics are already being felt, which may lead to a revitalization of the market in the near future.

- Have the prices for the work of artists fallen or, on the contrary, increased?

- At such moments of a political or economic crisis, as we observe today in our country, of course, works of art cease to be the subject of attention even for those who are passionate about them. Accordingly, the market is less active, and with demand, as a rule, the offer price falls. It has always been that way. Art is food for the soul, and in times of crisis, the first thing you think about is food for the body. However, precisely at such moments as now the best collections have been formed and will be formed. Moreover, the best in every sense - both in terms of material quality and economics.

- Objectively, these are three artists - Arsen Savadov, Vasily Tsagolov and Alexander Roitburd. Anatoly Krivolap is known to be the most expensive artist based on the results of auction sales. The works of these same artists are the most expensive on the secondary market. As for young artists, it is almost known for sure who in, say, five years will cost many times more. This list includes Nazar Bilyk, Artem Volokitin, Zhanna Kadyrova, Nikita Kravtsov, Stepan Ryabchenko, APL 315. And the list goes on.

Apl315 “Double-Trouble”, 2011

- What do they buy in Ukraine most often?

- Since the contemporary art market is relatively young, it is natural that there is more Ukrainian Soviet art in the volume. This is not about propaganda art, works that were created under the order of the party, but creative works artists of that time. These are landscapes and still lifes by Viktor Zaretsky, Sergei Shishko, Nikolai Glushchenko, Alexei Shovkunenko, Tatiana Yablonskaya, Sergei Grigoriev, Vasily Chegodar and many others.

Evgeny Petrov "Winter", 2011

- Do you collect yourself?

- Yes of course! Both my brother and I are experienced collectors. At first he collected "classics", now he switched to contemporary art and design. I am very critical about my collection. I buy only those items that literally start to shake me! Of the last acquired - paintings by Yevgeny Petrov, Viktor Melnichuk and Nikita Kravtsov, the object of Derkach. In the future, when I can afford it, I will definitely buy a portrait by Modigliani. This is what you might call an achievable dream. Almost unrealistic - find it :)

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On April 12, a large spring auction CLASSIC UNDERGROUND CONTEMPORARY will take place at the auction house "Golden Section" (Kiev, Pervomaysky St., 4). Organizer - the auction house "Golden Section".

The total number of works is 90 works.

The pre-auction exhibition will be held in two stages.

The second part of the pre-auction exposition - CONTEMPORARY - will take place

From the first day of the pre-auction exhibition, collectors will be able to place bids in a quiet online auction (on the website of AD "Golden Section" www.gs-art.com in the online catalog) and directly in the exhibition hall. The final live auction will take place on April 12.

Classic art at the auction will feature paintings from the 1940s-1990s. - the heyday of realism and impressionism in Ukrainian painting.

Top lots of the block CLASSIC: David Burliuk and his two works - "Tea Party" and "Card Players" (1950s), Nikolai Glushchenko and his "Water Lilies" (1956), Alexey Shovkunenko and the work "Thunderstorm" (1940s). And also - the painting of Sergei Shishko "Bank of the Dnieper" (1952), the work of Fyodor Zakharov "Still life with roses against the background of the picture" (1972) and the creation of Josip Bokshay "Autumn in the Carpathians" (1964).

In addition, fans of classical art will be pleased with the works of Pavel Gorobets, Adalbert Boretsky, Vladimir Mykita, Andrei Kotska, Vasily Chegodar, Valentina Tsvetkova and other authors.

The main lots of the section UNDERGROUND will become: the painting "Memories from childhood" (1966) by Ernest Kotkov, the work of Boris Plaksiy "Avant-garde composition" (1970), "Bird on the animals de kataєtsya izdєvatsya" (1992) by Maria Primachenko, work "Girl" (1960s) by Grigory Gavrilenko , "Abstract Composition" (1972-1975) by Henrikh Tigranyan,

“I read your thoughts” (1999) by Ivan Marchuk, “People and Mirrors” (1961) by Stanislav Sychev.

And also works of artists of the sixties - Ferenc Seman, Alla Gorskaya, Viktor Zaretsky, Feodosiy Tetyanich, Konstantin-Vadim Ignatov, Oleg Sokolov, Galina Grigorieva.

Block CONTEMPORARY consists of 40 works. Top lots in the contemporary art section: "Floating Rags" (2003) by Alexander Gnilitsky, "Breakfast with Giraffes" (2016) by Dmitry Kavsan, "Venice" by Yaroslav Prisyazhnyuk, "Structures" (1990s) by Anatoly Krivolap, "Beach" (2015 ) Maxim Mamsikov. And also the creation "11092012" by Vasily Bazhay in 2012, "The Big Fountain" (1997-2013) by Sergey Anufriev and Igor Gusev, "Variation on the theme of the Avgan katuba" (2017) by Pinchas Fishel and the fresh work of Roman Minin "LOVE" in 2017.

The highlight of the block of contemporary art is the work of five main representatives of the art association "Picturesque Reserve" - \u200b\u200bTiberiy Silvashi, Anatoly Krivolap, Marko Geiko, Nikolai Krivenko, Alexander Zhivotkov.

Prices for works of art presented at the auction range from $ 300 to $ 20,000, the average cost of works is $ 2000-3000.

« The auction collection turned out to be very diverse. Many works are practically not found on the open market. In order to interest the art of novice collectors, as well as to enable experienced collectors to bargain for rare works, we have lowered the starting prices compared to their real market value. Bidding will definitely interest those collectors who, with minimal costs and investment risks, want to purchase high-quality work, the value of which will soon grow", - emphasizes the co-owner of the auction house" Golden Section " Mikhail Vasilenko.

On November 28, the auction house "Golden Section" held its 40th anniversary auction, which resulted in 43% of the lots sold. The topic of the auction is underground and contemporary art - UNDERGROUNDCONTEMPORARY.

Post-sales were no less active, which confirmed the interest of collectors in the mentioned areas of art. As a result of 68 works of famous Ukrainian authors, whose works are an adornment of many museum and private world collections, auctioneers sold 40 works of art. And post-trading will continue for another week.

Try the images on the organizers

“Both in the world and in Ukraine, we observe an increased demand for the art of contemporaries - the cost of their works continues to grow - plus 12-15% by the end of this year. The paintings of representatives of the underground direction are no less interesting for collectors - this segment has been showing stable growth for several years. At the same time, the political situation in the country influences art sales much less. This testifies to the strengthening of the position of the Ukrainian art market and the reliability of investments in art, ”emphasizes Mikhail Vasilenko, co-owner of the auction house“ Golden Section ”.

Among the works sold during the auction are top lots of the modern block - Anatoly Krivolap and his "Landscape", which went under the hammer for $ 6050 at the start of $ 4000. And also the painting "Meeting" by Alexander Roitburd, sold for $ 4950 at the start of $ 3500. And the early work "Portrait of a Woman" by Ilya Chichkan, which was bought for $ 5225 with a start at $ 4000. Among other works sold by the modern blog - “ Night Kiev"Mikhail Deyak," Eastern Landscape "by Pavel Makov," Confusion "by Konstantin Lizogub," Goldfish "by Vladimir Miller," Kiev. St. Andrew's Church ”by Vadim Mikhalchuk,“ On the Dock ”by Valeria Fokina and the creations of other contemporaries.

Underground artists have also received increased attention from admirers of this trend. In particular, "Sketch for a Mosaic" by Alla Gorskaya was sold for $ 1650, the work "Struggle" by Gorskoy's closest friend Boris Plaksia was auctioned off for the same price, the collection painting "I and Ernst" by Valentin Khrushch was bought at auction for $ 2420. In addition, other top lots of once banned authors were sold during the auction: "Lust" by Ernest Kotkov, "Nude" by Viktor Grigorov, "Flowers in a Vase" and "Breakfast" by Mikhail Turovsky, "Coast of Crimea" by Lucien Dulfan, "Andreevsky Descent ”Anatoly Lymarev,“ Nu ”by Maya Zaretskaya and other works.

Information about AD "Golden Section":

The Auction House "Golden Section", founded in 2004, regularly holds auctions and exhibitions and sales of paintings and graphics, Russian icons.

The main activities of the company are classical paintingXIX- XX centuries, the art of alternative trends (avant-garde, non-conformism, underground), contemporary "actual" art, object design and photography, as well as Russian Orthodox icons. All works of art come for auction from a wide variety of private collections and galleries of the CIS and European countries.

“There weren't many people at the auction. The organizers were counting on phone bets - and there were bets. The auction can hardly be called active, but several works were bought in the hall.

If the estimates were lower - perhaps there would be a struggle at the auction. Estimate works need to be lowered in order to test the market.

Several people were bargaining for the work of Mikhail Deyak. With a lower estimate of 4500, the work was sold for 6000. There was a struggle for the works of Odessa artists: for example, the work of Oleg Sokolov at the start of $ 400 was sold for 700. The works of Odessa artists Altanets and Moldovanov were also sold (at the start) - the works were installed realistic estimates, so there was interest in them.

The works of the masters of modern Ukrainian art: Roytburd, Gusev, Mamsikov, Marchuk, Zhivotkov, were not sold. But on the phone we bought less work famous artists - therefore, it is difficult to talk about trends in relation to what is happening in the market. Let's hope the market revives.

We are located somewhat aloof from the world centers of art and art business. In late November - early December, auctions will be held in London dedicated to Russian and Soviet art. And then it will be possible to talk about what is happening on the global market of Ukrainian and Russian art at the moment "