On June 9 the London-based Sotheby’s House held an auction where 13 contemporary Ukrainian artists competed for the first time, as did some of their Russian colleagues.
As a result, 9 out of the 18 Ukrainian paintings were sold. It is interesting to compare the estimated bidding prices with the amounts earned at the auction. Information on the results of the June 9 auction is available on Sotheby’s official website. Some of the pictures were sold within the limits of the price set by Sotheby’s experts, but others “jumped” high above the preliminary estimates. Actually, among the latter is only one work—Oksana Mas’ Dialogue. The Odesa-based artist’s work, estimated at 10,000–15,000 pound sterlings, went to the highest bidder for 33,560 pound sterlings.
The rest of the works were well within the estimated limits. Vasyl Tsaholov’s picture A Little Hare was sold for 25,000 pound sterlings, Arsen Savadov’s Karaite Cemetery for 10,000 pound sterlings. Natsprom by Oleh Tistol and Mykola Matsenko fetched 5,000 pound sterlings, Oleksandr Roiburd’s Geishas — 12,500 pound sterlings, Illia Chichkan’s Charlie — 12,500 pound sterlings, Pavlo Makov’s State Tablecloth — 10,000 pound sterlings, and Ihor Husiev’s Renewal — 6,250 pound sterlings.
The auction results raise several questions. First, why did precisely these authors manage to pass the first Ukrainian “exam” at Sotheby’s and why did Vlada Ralko, Maryna Skuhareva, and Oleksandr Hnylytsky fail it? All the more so that Joe Vickery, chief of the Russian art section in London, tipped the picture Rain by Hnylytsky, who is well-known in Germany, as a prospective winner. Second, why did the work of no other than Oksana Mas turn out to be so successful commercially? Why did she outdo her colleagues by such a wide margin? And, finally, who bought the Ukrainian pictures—the ethnic diaspora, Europeans, Russians?
We put these questions to Natalia ZABOLOTNA, director of the Ukraine House, who visited the auction in London.
“The very fact that our artists could break through to this auction is a great achievement and, to some extent, a promise. We know our artists very well, but the outside world is almost unaware of them: they are, in fact, living behind the ‘iron curtain’ of our law, which levels taxes on the import and export of art objects. This is why our art fairs cannot be really international. This situation also prevents our collectors from buying at auctions and thus increasing Ukrainian national treasures.
“On its part, Ukraine House did its level best to make it clear how important it is to display and sell Ukrainian art. The latter should make part of foreign collections, which will boost the image of not only the artists but also our country. Naturally, we hoped to sell 60-70 percent of our pictures. But Sotheby’s management is satisfied with 50 percent, which is a good result for the first (and not very successful economically) time.
“I can note that the Russian works were mostly bought by Russians. There is an art boom in Russia now: there are active sales and deliveries of antiques as well as modern art. As far as I know, Oksana Mas’ work was bought by a Ukrainian collector. It is difficult to explain why it was able to attract the highest bidder. Mas is an active artist; she never misses any kinds of exhibits and art forums; she mingles very much with collectors and, what is more, she is exhibited by the well-known Moscow gallery Aidan, which, accordingly, evokes a respectful attitude to her.
“Arsen Savadov’s picture went to a big-time US collector. Vasyl Tsaholov’s work was bought by a German collector, and Illia Chichkan’s creation — by a collector from Russia. In general, it is a good start and a serious bid. Moreover, the organizers have announced that the auctions yielded the project 250,000 pound sterlings. But this does not all mean that we can relax and rest on our laurels—on the contrary, there is something we must work on and develop.”
