The most expensive paintings by contemporary artists of the 21st century. Total cost of work - $93 million

The Art Newspaper Russia presents the rating: the most expensive living Russian artists. If you are still sure that there were no Russian artists in the Western scene, we are ready to argue with that. The language of numbers.

The conditions were simple: each living artist could be represented by only one, his most expensive work. When compiling the rating, not only the results of public auctions were taken into account, but also the most high-profile private sales. The authors of the rating were guided by the principle “if something sells loudly, then someone needs it,” and therefore appreciated the work of marketers and press managers of artists who brought record private sales to the public. Important note: the rating is based solely on financial indicators; if it were based on the exhibition activity of artists, it would look somewhat different. External sources for analytics were resources Artnet.com, Artprice.com, Skatepress.com And Artinvestment.ru.

The US dollar was chosen as the currency for the world ranking; the British pound sterling was taken as the equivalent of sales of Russian artists (since 90% of domestic sales took place in London in this currency). The remaining 10% of works sold in US dollars and euros were recalculated at the exchange rate at the time of the transaction, as a result of which some positions changed places. In addition to the actual cost of the work, data was collected on the total capitalization of artists (the number of top works sold at auction over all years), on the place of a contemporary artist in the ranking of artists of all times, on the place of the participant’s most expensive work among all works sold by other authors, and also about nationality and country of residence. Statistics on repeat sales of each artist also contain important information as an objective indicator of investment
attractiveness.

Last year, 2013, significantly changed the position contemporary artists in the international sales ranking. From the top 50 most expensive works 16 contemporary works of art were sold last season - a record number (for comparison, 17 works were sold from 2010 to 2012; there was only one sale in the 20th century). The demand for living artists is partly identical to the demand for all contemporary art, partly to the cynical understanding that the capitalization of assets after their death will invariably increase.

Among the Russian participants, the brothers turned out to be the most respectable Sergey And Alexey Tkachev(b. 1922 and 1925), the youngest - Anatoly Osmolovsky(b. 1969). The question is who will be new Jean-Michel Basquiat, while open. In the sales of our artists, clear classes of buyers are visible: the leaders are bought by foreign collectors and Russian oligarchs, places from 10th to 30th are provided by emigrant collectors, and the conditional bottom of the top 50 is our future, young collectors who have entered the market with “new » money.

1. Ilya Kabakov
It seems that in general he is the main Russian artist (which does not prevent Kabakov, who was born in Dnepropetrovsk, from describing himself as Ukrainian), the founding father of Moscow conceptualism (one of), the author of the term and practice of “total installation”. Since 1988 he has lived and worked in New York. He works in collaboration with his wife, Emilia Kabakova, which is why the title should look like “Ilya and Emilia Kabakov,” but since Ilya Iosifovich became known earlier than Ilya and Emilia, then let it remain so. The works are in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, the Hermitage, MoMA, Kolodzei Art Foundation(USA), etc.
Year of birth: 1933
Work: "Beetle". 1982
Date of sale: 02/28/2008
Price (GBP)1: 2,932,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 10,686,000
Place: 1
Average Job Cost (GBP): 117,429
Number of repeat sales: 12

2. Erik Bulatov
Using techniques that would later be called social art, he combined figurative painting with text in his works. IN Soviet time successful children's book illustrator. Since 1989 he has lived and worked in New York, and since 1992 in Paris. The first Russian artist with a personal exhibition at the Pompidou Center. Works are kept in collections Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Center Pompidou, Ludwig Museum in Cologne, etc., are included in the collections of the Foundation Dina Verni, Viktor Bondarenko, Vyacheslav Kantor, Ekaterina and Vladimir Semenikhin, Igor Tsukanov.
Year of birth: 1933
Work: “Glory to the CPSU.” 1975
Date of sale: 02/28/2008
Price (GBP)1: 1,084,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 8,802,000
Place: 2
Average job cost (GBP): 163,000
Number of repeat sales: 11

3. Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid
The creators of Sots Art - an ironic movement in unofficial art that parodies the symbolism and techniques of officialdom. Since 1978 they have lived in New York. Until the mid-2000s they worked in pairs. As an art project, they organized the “sale of souls” of famous artists through an auction (soul Andy Warhol since then it has been owned by a Moscow artist Alena Kirtsova). Works are in the collections of MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, and in the collections Shalva Breus, Daria Zhukova And Roman Abramovich and etc.
Year of birth: 1943, 1945
Work: “Meeting of Solzhenitsyn and Böll at Rostropovich’s dacha.” 1972
Date of sale: 04/23/2010
Price (GBP)1: 657,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 3,014,000
Place: 7
Average job cost (GBP): 75,350
Number of repeat sales: 3

former comar&melamid artstudio archive

4. Semyon Faibisovich
A photorealist artist who remains the most accurate realist even now, when Semyon Natanovich is less interested in painting than in journalism. He exhibited on Malaya Gruzinskaya, where in 1985 he was noticed by New York dealers and collectors. Since 1987, regularly exhibited in the USA and Western Europe. An active supporter of the repeal of the law on the promotion of homosexuality in Russia. Lives and works in Moscow. Works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Moscow House of Photography, museums in Germany, Poland, the USA, and are included in the collections Daria Zhukova And Roman Abramovich, Igor Markin, Igor
Tsukanova.
Year of birth: 1949
Work: “Soldiers” (from the “Station Stations” series). 1989
Date of sale: 10/13/2007
Price (GBP)1: 311,200
Total capitalization (GBP): 3,093,000
Place: 6
Average Job Cost (GBP): 106,655
Number of repeat sales: 7

5. Grigory (Grisha) Bruskin
The main character of the first and last Soviet auction Sotheby's in 1988, where his work Fundamental Lexicon became the top lot (£220 thousand). At the invitation of the German government, he created a monumental triptych for the reconstructed Reichstag in Berlin. Winner of the Kandinsky Prize in the category “Project of the Year” for the exhibition Time H at the Multimedia Art Museum. Lives and works in New York and Moscow. The works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, MoMA, the Museum of Jewish Culture (New York), etc., are included in the collections of the Queen of Spain Sofia, Peter Aven, Shalva Breus, Vladimir and Ekaterina Semenikhin, Milos Forman.
Year of birth: 1945
Work: “Logies. Part 1". 1987
Date of sale: 07.11.2000
Price (GBP)1: 424,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 720,000
Place: 15
Average job cost (GBP): 24,828
Number of repeat sales: 5

6. Oleg Tselkov
One of the most famous sixties artists, who in the 1960s began and still continues a series of paintings depicting rough, as if sculpted from clay, human faces(or figures) painted with bright aniline colors. Since 1977 he has lived in Paris. The works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, the Hermitage, the Zimmerli Museum of Rutgers University, etc., and are included in the collections Mikhail Baryshnikov, Arthur Miller, Igor Tsukanov. The largest private collection of Tselkov's works in Russia belongs to Evgeniy Yevtushenko.
Year of birth: 1934
Work: "Boy with balloons" 1957
Date of sale: 11/26/2008
Price (GBP)1: 238,406
Total capitalization (GBP): 4,232,000
Place: 5
Average job cost (GBP): 53,570
Number of repeat sales: 14

7. Oscar Rabin
Leader of the “Lianozov group” (Moscow nonconformist artists of the 1950s-1960s), organizer of the scandalous Bulldozer exhibition 1974. He was the first in the Soviet Union to sell works privately. In 1978 he was deprived Soviet citizenship. Lives and works in Paris. In 2006 he became a laureate of the Innovation Prize for his contribution to art. The works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the Zimmerli Museum of Rutgers University, and are included in the collections of Alexander Glezer, Vyacheslav Kantor, Alexander Kronik, Iveta and Tamaz Manasherov, Evgeniy Nutovich, Aslan Chekhoev.
Year of birth: 1928
Work: “The City and the Moon (Socialist
city)". 1959
Date of sale: 04/15/2008
Price (GBP)1: 171,939
Total capitalization (GBP): 5,397,000
Place: 3
Average job cost (GBP): 27,964
Number of repeat sales: 45

8. Zurab Tsereteli
Largest representative already monumental art. Author of the monument to Peter I in Moscow and the monument Good conquers Evil in front of the UN building in New York. Founder of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, President Russian Academy arts, creator of the Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, operating at the above-mentioned academy. Sculptures of Zurab Tsereteli, in addition to Russia, adorn Brazil, Great Britain, Georgia, Spain, Lithuania, USA, France and Japan.
Year of birth: 1934
Work: “Dream of Athos”
Date of sale: 12/01/2009
Price (GBP)1: 151,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 498,000
Place: 19
Average job cost (GBP): 27,667
Number of repeat sales: 4

9. Viktor Pivovarov
One of the founders of Moscow conceptualism. Like Kabakov, the inventor of the concept album genre; like Kabakov, Bulatov and Oleg Vasiliev - a successful illustrator of children's books who collaborated with the magazines "Murzilka" and " Funny pictures" Since 1982 he has lived and worked in Prague. The works are in the collections of the Tretyakov Gallery, the Russian Museum, and the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkina, Kolodzei Art Foundation(USA), in the collections of Vladimir and Ekaterina Semenikhin, Igor Tsukanov.
Year of birth: 1937
Work: “Triptych with a snake.” 2000
Date of sale: 10/18/2008
Price (GBP)1: 145,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 482,000
Place: 20
Average job cost (GBP): 17,852
Number of repeat sales: 6

10. Alexander Melamid
Half of the creative tandem Komar - Melamid, which broke up in 2003. Together with Vitaly Komar, participant Bulldozer exhibition(where they died Double self-portrait, a seminal work of Sots Art). Since 1978 he has lived and worked in New York. There is no information about which famous collections contain Melamid’s works, created by him independently.
Year of birth: 1945
Work: “Cardinal José Saraiva Martins.” 2007
Date of sale: 10/18/2008
Price (GBP)1: 145,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 145,000
Place: 36
Average job cost (GBP): 145,000
Number of repeat sales: —

11. Francisco Infante-Arana
The owner of perhaps the most extensive list of exhibitions among Russian artists. Member of the kinetic group "Movement", in the 1970s he found his own version of photo performance, or “artifact” - geometric shapes, integrated into the natural landscape.
Year of birth: 1943
Work: “Building a sign.” 1984
Date of sale: 05/31/2006
Price (GBP)1: 142,400
Total capitalization (GBP): 572,000
Place: 17
Average job cost (GBP): 22,000
Number of repeat sales: —

12. Vladimir Nemukhin
Metaphysician. A classic of the second wave of Russian avant-garde, a member of the “Lianozov group”, one of the participants in the Bulldozer exhibition, curator (or initiator) of important exhibitions of the 1980s, when the unofficial Soviet
art was just becoming aware of itself.
Year of birth: 1925
Work: “Unfinished Solitaire.” 1966
Date of sale: 04/26/2006
Price (GBP)1: 240,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 4,338,000
Place: 4
Average Job Cost (GBP): 36,454
Number of repeat sales: 26

13. Vladimir Yankilevsky
Surrealist, one of the main names of post-war Moscow unofficial art, creator of monumental philosophical polyptychs.
Year of birth: 1938
Work: “Triptych No. 10. Anatomy of the soul. II." 1970
Date of sale: 04/23/2010
Price (GBP)1: 133,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 754,000
Place: 14
Average job cost (GBP): 12,780
Number of repeat sales: 7

14. Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky
Scenic project Paintings to order, which they began in the hopeless 1990s for painting, received what it deserved in the 2000s. The duet became popular with collectors, and one painting ended up in the collection of the Pompidou Center.
Year of birth: 1963, 1964
Work: "Night Fitness". 2004
Date of sale: 06/22/2007
Price (GBP)1: 132,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 1,378,000
Place: 11
Average job cost (GBP): 26,500
Number of repeat sales: 4

15. Sergey Volkov
One of the heroes of perestroika art, known for his expressive paintings with thoughtful statements. Soviet auction participant Sotheby's in 1988.
Year of birth: 1956
Work: “Double Vision.
Triptych"
Date of sale: 05/31/2007
Price (GBP)1: 132,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 777,000
Place: 12
Average job cost (GBP): 38,850
Number of repeat sales: 4

16. AES + F (Tatyana Arzamasova, Lev Evzovich, Evgeniy Svyatsky, Vladimir Fridkes)
AES projects were distinguished by their good presentation in the slack 1990s, which is why they were remembered. Now they are making large animated murals that are broadcast on dozens of screens.
Year of birth: 1955, 1958, 1957, 1956
Work: “Warrior No. 4”
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 120,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 305,000
Place: 27
Average job cost (GBP): 30,500
Number of repeat sales: —

17. Lev Tabenkin
A sculptor and painter with a sculptural vision, as if sculpting his heroes from clay.
Year of birth: 1952
Work: " Jazz orchestra" 2004
Date of sale: 06/30/2008
Price (GBP)1: 117,650
Total capitalization (GBP): 263,000
Place: 28
Average job cost (GBP): 26,300
Number of repeat sales: 7

18. Mikhail (Misha Shaevich) Brusilovsky
Sverdlovsk surrealist, author of meaningful allegories.
Year of birth: 1931
Work: "Football". 1965
Date of sale: 11/28/2006
Price (GBP)1: 108,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 133,000
Place: 38
Average job cost (GBP): 22,167
Number of repeat sales: —

19. Olga Bulgakova
One of the main figures of the intelligentsia “carnival” painting of the Brezhnev era. Corresponding Member
Russian Academy of Arts.
Year of birth: 1951
Work: “Dream of Red
bird." 1988
Date of sale: 11/22/2010
Price (GBP)1: 100,876
Total capitalization (GBP): 219,000
Place: 31
Average job cost (GBP): 36,500
Number of repeat sales: —

20. Alexander Ivanov
An abstract artist who is known primarily as a businessman, collector and creator of the Faberge Museum in Baden-Baden (Germany).
Year of birth: 1962
Work: "Love". 1996
Date of sale: 06/05/2013
Price (GBP)1: 97,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 201,000
Place: 33
Average Job Cost (GBP): 50,250
Number of repeat sales: —

21. Ivan Chuikov
An independent wing of Moscow pictorial conceptualism. Author of a series of paintings-objects Windows. Somehow in the 1960s he burned everything paintings, which is why gallery owners are still sad.
Year of birth: 1935
Work: "Untitled". 1986
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 96,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 1,545,000
Place: 10
Average Job Cost (GBP): 36,786
Number of repeat sales: 8

22. Konstantin Zvezdochetov
In his youth, a member of the Mukhomor group, which called themselves “the fathers of the “new wave” in the Soviet Union” -
with good reason; with the onset of creative maturity the participant Venice Biennale and Kassel
documenta. Researcher and connoisseur of the visual in Soviet grassroots culture.
Year of birth: 1958
Product: "Perdo-K-62M"
Date of sale: 06/13/2008
Price (GBP)1: 92,446
Total capitalization (GBP): 430,000
Place: 22
Average job cost (GBP): 22,632
Number of repeat sales: 2

23. Natalya Nesterova
One of the main art stars of the Brezhnev stagnation. Loved by collectors for its textured, painterly style.
Year of birth: 1944
Work: “The Miller and His
son". 1969
Date of sale: 06/15/2007
Price (GBP)1: 92,388
Total capitalization (GBP): 1,950,000
Place: 9
Average job cost (GBP): 20,526
Number of repeat sales: 15

24. Maxim Kantor
An expressionist painter who performed in the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1997 - as well as a publicist and writer, author of a philosophical and satirical novel Drawing tutorial about the ins and outs of the Russian art world.
Year of birth: 1957
Work: “The Structure of Democracy.” 2003
Date of sale: 10/18/2008
Price (GBP)1: 87,650
Total capitalization (GBP): 441,000
Place: 21
Average Job Cost (GBP): 44,100
Number of repeat sales: 2

25. Andrey Sidersky
Creates paintings in the style of psy-art he invented. Translated works of Carlos Castaneda and Richard Bach into Russian.
Year of birth: 1960
Work: “Triptych”
Date of sale: 12/04/2009
Price (GBP)1: 90,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 102,000
Place: 42
Average job cost (GBP): 51,000
Number of repeat sales: —

26. Valery Koshlyakov
Known for paintings with architectural motifs. The largest representative of the “South Russian wave”. Often uses cardboard boxes, bags, and tape. The first exhibition with his participation was held in a public toilet in Rostov-on-Don in 1988.
Year of birth: 1962
Work: "Versailles". 1993
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 72,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 346,000
Place: 26
Average job cost (GBP): 21,625
Number of repeat sales: 8

27. Alexey Sundukov
Laconic, leaden in color paintings about “ lead abominations» everyday Russian life.
Year of birth: 1952
Work: “The Essence of Being.” 1988
Date of sale: 04/23/2010
Price (GBP)1: 67,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 255,000
Place: 29
Average job cost (GBP): 25,500
Number of repeat sales: 1

28. Igor Novikov
Belongs to the generation of Moscow nonconformist artists of the late 1980s.
Year of birth: 1961
Work: “The Kremlin Breakfast, or Moscow for Sale.” 2009
Date of sale: 03.12.2010
Price (GBP)1: 62,092
Total capitalization (GBP): 397,000
Place: 24
Average job cost (GBP): 15,880
Number of repeat sales: 3

29. Vadim Zakharov
Archivist of Moscow conceptualism. The author of spectacular installations on profound topics, represented Russia at the Venice
biennial
Year of birth: 1959
Work: "Baroque". 1986-1994
Date of sale: 10/18/2008
Price (GBP)1: 61,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 243,000
Place: 30
Average job cost (GBP): 20,250
Number of repeat sales: —

30. Yuri Krasny
Author art programs for children with special needs.
Year of birth: 1925
Work: “The Smoker”
Date of sale: 04/04/2008Price (GBP)1: 59,055
Total capitalization (GBP): 89,000
Place: 44
Average job cost (GBP): 11,125
Number of repeat sales: 8

31. Sergey and Alexey Tkachev
Classics of late Soviet impressionism, students of Arkady Plastov, famous for their paintings from the life of the Russian village.
Year of birth: 1922, 1925
Work: “In the Field.” 1954
Date of sale: 12/01/2010
Price (GBP)1: 58,813
Total capitalization (GBP): 428,000
Place: 23
Average job cost (GBP): 22,526
Number of repeat sales: 4

32. Svetlana Kopystyanskaya
Known for installations of paintings. After the Moscow auction Sotheby's in 1988 he works abroad.
Year of birth: 1950
Work: “Seascape”
Date of sale: 10/13/2007
Price (GBP)1: 57,600
Total capitalization (GBP): 202,000
Place: 32
Average job cost (GBP): 22,444
Number of repeat sales: 2

33. Boris Orlov
A sculptor close to social art. He is famous for his works in the ironic “imperial” style and his masterful craftsmanship of bronze busts and bouquets.
Year of birth: 1941
Work: "Sailor". 1976
Date of sale: 10/17/2013
Price (GBP)1: 55,085
Total capitalization (GBP): 174,000
Place: 34
Average job cost (GBP): 17,400
Number of repeat sales: 1

34. Vyacheslav Kalinin
The author of expressive paintings from the life of the urban lower classes and drinking bohemia.
Year of birth: 1939
Artwork: “Self-portrait with a hang glider”
Date of sale: 11/25/2012
Price (GBP)1: 54,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 766,000
Place: 13
Average job cost (GBP): 12,767
Number of repeat sales: 24

35. Evgeny Semenov
Known for his photo series with Down syndrome patients playing the roles of gospel characters.
Year of birth: 1960
Work: "Heart". 2009
Date of sale: 06/29/2009
Price (GBP)1: 49,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 49,000
Place: 48
Average job cost (GBP): 49,000
Number of repeat sales: —

36. Yuri Cooper
He became famous for his nostalgic canvases with old household items. Author of the play Twelve paintings from the life of the artist, staged at the Moscow Art Theater. A.P. Chekhov.
Year of birth: 1940
Work: “Window. Dassa Street, 56." 1978
Date of sale: 06/09/2010
Price (GBP)1: 49,250
Total capitalization (GBP): 157,000
Place: 35
Average job cost (GBP): 2,754
Number of repeat sales: 14

37. Alexander Kosolapov
A socialist artist whose work has become a target for all sorts of attacks. During the Art Moscow 2005 fair, one of his works was destroyed by a religious fanatic with a hammer.
Year of birth: 1943
Work: "Marlboro Malevich." 1987
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 48,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 510,000
Place: 18
Average job cost (GBP): 15,938
Number of repeat sales: 1

38. Leonid Sokov
A leading sculptor of Sots Art who combined folklore with politics. Among the famous works Device for determining nationality by nose shape.
Year of birth: 1941
Work: “A bear hitting a sickle with a hammer.” 1996
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 48,500
Total capitalization (GBP): 352,000
Place: 25
Average job cost (GBP): 13,538
Number of repeat sales: 7

39. Vladimir Ovchinnikov
One of the patriarchs of unofficial art in Leningrad. Orthodox version of Fernando Botero.
Year of birth: 1941
Work: "Angels and railways" 1977
Date of sale: 04/17/2007
Price (GBP)1: 47,846
Total capitalization (GBP): 675,000
Place: 16
Average job cost (GBP): 15,341
Number of repeat sales: —

40. Konstantin Khudyakov
Author of paintings on religious subjects. Currently working in digital art technology.
Year of birth: 1945
Work: " Last Supper" 2007
Date of sale: 02/18/2011
Price (GBP)1: 46,850
Total capitalization (GBP): 97,000
Place: 43
Average job cost (GBP): 32,333
Number of repeat sales: —

41. Ernst Neizvestny
An icon of Soviet nonconformism - ever since he openly objected to General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev at the vernissage of the legendary exhibition dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Moscow Union of Artists. After that, he made a monument at Khrushchev’s grave and a monument in front of the UN European headquarters.
Year of birth: 1925
Work: “Untitled”
Date of sale: 06/08/2010
Price (GBP)1: 46,850
Total capitalization (GBP): 2,931,000
Place: 8
Average job cost (GBP): 24,839
Number of repeat sales: 13

42. Anatoly Osmolovsky
One of the main figures of Moscow actionism of the 1990s, art theorist, curator, publisher and head of the Baza Institute research and educational program, laureate of the first Kandinsky Prize.
Year of birth: 1969
Work: “Bread” (from the “Pagans” series). 2009
Date of sale: 04/23/2010
Price (GBP)1: 46,850
Total capitalization (GBP): 83,000
Place: 46
Average Job Cost (GBP): 11,857
Number of repeat sales: —

43. Dmitry Vrubel
Photorealist painter, known mainly for his painting of Brezhnev and Honecker kissing (more precisely, thanks to the author’s reproduction on the Berlin Wall).
Year of birth: 1960
Work: “Fraternal kiss (triptych).” 1990
Date of sale: 11/25/2013
Price (GBP)1: 45,000

Place: 40
Average job cost (GBP): 16,429
Number of repeat sales: 2

44. Leonid Lamm
The author of installations that combine motifs of the Russian avant-garde and scenes of Soviet prison life. Lives in America. In the 1970s, he spent three years in prisons and camps on false charges.
Year of birth: 1928
Work: “Apple II” (from the “Seventh Heaven” series). 1974-1986
Date of sale: 12/16/2009
Price (GBP)1: 43,910
Total capitalization (GBP): 115,000
Place: 41
Average job cost (GBP): 14,375
Number of repeat sales: —

Irina Nakhova’s picturesque installations of the 1980s in her apartment can claim authorship in the “total” genre.

45. Irina Nakhova
Muse of Moscow conceptualism. Winner of the 2013 Kandinsky Prize for “Project of the Year”. In 2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale
will represent Russia.
Year of birth: 1955
Work: "Triptych". 1983
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 38,900
Total capitalization (GBP): 85,000
Place: 45
Average job cost (GBP): 17,000
Number of repeat sales: 1

46. Katya Filippova
Avant-garde clothing designer who became famous during perestroika. She decorated the windows of the Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette, and was friends with Pierre Cardin.
Year of birth: 1958
“Work: Marina Ladynina” (from the “Russian Hollywood” series)
Date of sale: 03/12/2008
Price (GBP)1: 38,900
Total capitalization (GBP): 39,000
Place: 49
Average job cost (GBP): 39,000
Number of repeat sales: —

47. Boris Zaborov
Theater artist, book illustrator. In 1980 he emigrated to Paris and worked on costumes for the Comedy Française.
Year of birth: 1935
Work: “Participant”. 1981
Date of sale: 10/30/2006
Price (GBP)1: 36,356
Total capitalization (GBP): 67,000
Place: 47
Average job cost (GBP): 13,400
Number of repeat sales: 2

48. Rostislav Lebedev
Classic socialist artist, colleague (and workshop neighbor) of Boris Orlov and Dmitry Prigov. Creatively transformed visual propaganda from Soviet times.
Year of birth: 1946
Work: “Russian Fairy Tale”. 1949
Date of sale: 06/03/2008
Price (GBP)1: 34,000
Total capitalization (GBP): 122,000
Place: 39
Average job cost (GBP): 24,400
Number of repeat sales: 2

49. Andrey Filippov
Belongs to the Moscow conceptual school. Author of paintings and installations united by the theme “Moscow - the Third Rome”. Since 2009, together with Yuri Albert and Victor Skersis, he has been a member of the Cupid group.
Year of birth: 1959
Work: "Seven Feet Under the Keel." 1988
Date of sale: 05/31/2006
Price (GBP)1: 33,600
Total capitalization (GBP): 137,000
Place: 37
Average job cost (GBP): 12,455
Number of repeat sales: 3

50. Vladimir Shinkarev
The founder and ideologist of the Leningrad art group “Mitki”, in whose novel Mitki this term was first used. The novel was written out of boredom while working in the boiler room.
Year of birth: 1954
Work: “Lenin Square I”. 1999
Date of sale: 06/30/2008
Price (GBP)1: 32,450
Total capitalization (GBP): 33,000
Place: 50
Average job cost (GBP): 16,500
Number of repeat sales: —

Sales vs exhibitions

Market recognition and recognition by the professional community seem like different things to many, but the division into “commercial” and “non-commercial” artists is very arbitrary. Thus, of the Russian artists who have exhibited at the Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art over the past ten years (and this is the pinnacle of their professional career), seven (if counting by person, then 11 people) are included in our rating. And the top 10 artists from the rating either exhibited at the Venice Biennale before, or had personal exhibitions in major museums. As for those wonderful artists who were not included in the rating, their absence or not very outstanding sales can be explained simply and banally. Collectors are conservative and even from the most avant-garde creators they prefer to buy paintings (paintings, objects similar to paintings or photographs) or sculpture (or objects similar to sculpture). There are no record-breaking performances or giant installations in our rating (installations are usually bought by museums, but the prices are museum-quality, at a discount). That is why such stars as Andrey Monastyrsky, Oleg Kulik, Pavel Pepperstein(until recently I mainly did graphics, and graphics are a priori cheaper than painting) or, for example, Nikolay Polissky, whose grandiose designs have not yet found any understanding collectors.

In addition, the market is also conservative because recognition comes slowly - note that in the top 10 all artists were born in 1950 or older. That is, promising participants of the biennale still have everything ahead of them.

Art modern painting- These are works created at the present time or in the recent past. A certain number of years will pass, and these paintings will become part of history. Works of painting created from the 60s of the last century to the present day reflect several trends in modern art that can be classified as postmodernism. During Art Nouveau times, the work of painters was more widely represented, and in the 70s of the twentieth century there was a change in the social orientation of the art of painting.

Contemporary art

Artists of modern painting primarily represent new trends in fine art. In cultural terminology there is a concept " contemporary art", which in some way correlates with the concept of "modern painting". By contemporary art, artists most often mean innovation, when the painter turns to cutting-edge themes, regardless of their focus. The painting can be painted in and depict any industrial enterprise. Or on the canvas there is a landscape landscape with a wheat field, a meadow, a forest, but in the distance a combine will certainly be drawn. The style of modern painting suggests a social orientation of the picture. At the same time, landscapes by modern artists without social overtones are valued much more.

Choosing a direction

Since the late 90s, artists of modern painting have abandoned industrial themes and transferred their creativity to the mainstream of pure visual arts. Masters of fine art appear portrait painting, landscape scenes, still lifes in the style of Flemish drawing. And gradually, true art began to appear in modern painting, in no way inferior to the paintings created by outstanding artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, and in some ways even superior to them. Today's brush masters are helped by a developed technical base and an abundance of new tools that allow them to fully reflect their plans on canvas. Thus, artists of modern painting can create to the best of their abilities. Of course, the quality of paints or brushes is important in the process of painting, but the main thing is talent.

Abstract expressionism

Modern artists adhere to painting methods that allow the use of non-geometric strokes applied in abundance to the canvas big size. Large brushes are used, sometimes paint brushes. Such painting can hardly be called art in classical meaning this word, however, abstraction is a continuation of surrealism, which appeared back in 1920 thanks to the ideas of Andre Breton and immediately found a lot of followers, such as Salvator Dali, Hans Hofmann, Adolf Gottlieb. At the same time, artists of modern painting understand expressionism in their own way. Today, this genre differs from its predecessor in the size of the canvases, which can reach three meters in length.

Pop Art

The counterbalance to abstractionism was the conceptual new avant-gardeism, promoting aesthetic values. Modern artists began to include images of famous figures in their paintings, such as Mao Zedong or Marilyn Monroe. This art is called "pop art" - a popular, generally recognized direction in painting. Mass culture replaced abstract art and gave rise to special type aesthetics, which in a colorful, effective manner presented to the public what was on everyone’s lips, some recent events or images of well-known people in different life situations.

The founders and followers of pop art were Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann, Peter Blake, Roy Lichtenstein.

Photorealism

Contemporary art is multifaceted; often a new direction arises in it, combining two or more types of visual creativity. Photorealism became such a form of artist’s self-expression. This style of painting appeared in the USA in 1968. It was invented by avant-garde artist Louis Meisel, and the genre was introduced two years later, at the Whitney Museum during the exhibition “Twenty-Two Realists.”

Painting in the style of photorealism is associated with photography; the movement of the object is frozen in time. A photorealist artist collects his image, which will be captured in the painting, using photographs. From a negative or slide, the image is transferred to the canvas by projection or using a scale grid. Then a full-fledged picture is created using painting technologies.

The heyday of photorealism occurred in the mid-70s, then there was a decline in popularity, and in the early 90s the genre was revived again. Established artists worked mainly in the USA, among them there were many sculptors who also created their works using image projection. The most famous masters of painting based on photorealism are Richard Estes, Charles Bellet, Thomas Blackwell, Robert Demekis, Donald Eddy, Duane Hanson.

Photorealist artists younger generation- Raffaella Spence, Roberto Bernardi, Chiara Albertoni, Tony Brunelli, Olivier Romano, Bertrand Meniel, Clive Head.

Contemporary artists of Russia

Serge Fedulov (born 1958), a native of Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Territory. Participant of several exhibitions in Latin America and Europe. His paintings are distinguished by their realism and contrasting color combinations.
Mikhail Golubev (born 1981), graduated art class Omsk school of painting. Currently lives in St. Petersburg. He is distinguished by an unusual style of creativity; all his works are paintings-reflections with deep philosophical overtones.
Dmitry Annenkov (born 1965) in Moscow. Graduated from the Stroganov Art Institute. Popular abroad, but preferred Russian exhibitions. Annenkov's art is realistic, the artist is recognized master still life.

Russian impressionists

Alexey Chernigin, Russian impressionist artist (born 1975), is the son famous artist Alexandra Chernigina. Studied painting and graphic design V art school Nizhny Novgorod. Graduated from Nizhny Novgorod architectural institute majoring in Industrial Design. Member of the Union of Artists of Russia since 1998. Since 2001, he has been a teacher at NGASU at the Department of Interior Design.
Konstantin Lupanov, Krasnodar artist (born 1977). Graduated Industrial Academy at the State University of Culture and Arts in the specialty " Monumental painting". Participant of many art exhibitions in and St. Petersburg. Distinguished by a rare manner oil painting with twisting of the stroke. Lupanov's paintings are completely devoid of contrasting color combinations; the images seem to flow into one another. The artist himself calls his works “cheerful, irresponsible daub,” but there is some coquetry in this statement: the paintings are actually painted quite professionally.

Russian artists painting in nude style

Sergei Marshennikov (born 1971), one of the most famous Russian artists of our time. Graduated from the Ufa College of Arts. His paintings are an example of blatant realism. The works give the impression of an artistic photograph, the composition is so precise and every stroke is verified. The artist’s wife, Natalya, most often plays the role of model, and this helps him create a sensual picture.
Vera Vasilievna Donskaya-Khilko (born 1964), granddaughter of the famous opera singer Lavrenty Dmitrievich Donskoy. The brightest representative of modern Russian painting. He draws in the style of a plot nude. In the artist’s creative palette you can find beauties from eastern harem and naked village girls on the river bank on the night of Ivan Kupala, a Russian bathhouse with hot women going out into the snow and swimming in the ice hole. The artist draws a lot and talentedly.

Contemporary artists of Russia, their work evokes everything more interest connoisseurs fine arts worldwide.

Contemporary painting as world art

Currently fine arts took forms different from those demanded in the 18th and 19th centuries. Contemporary artists of the world turned to the avant-garde in a narrower interpretation, the canvases acquired sophistication and became more meaningful. Society today needs updated art; the need extends to all types of creativity, including painting. Paintings by contemporary artists, if they are executed at a sufficiently high level, are sold out and become the subject of bargaining or exchange. Some paintings are included in the list of especially valuable works of art. Paintings from the past, painted by great painters, are still in demand, but contemporary artists are becoming increasingly popular. Oil, tempera, watercolor, and other paints help them in creativity and the successful implementation of their plans. Painters, as a rule, adhere to one style. This could be a landscape, portrait, battle scenes or another genre. Accordingly, the artist chooses a certain type of paint for his work.

Contemporary artists of the world

The most famous contemporary artists differ in their painting style, their brush is recognizable, sometimes you don’t even need to look at the signature at the bottom of the canvas. Famous masters modern painting - Philip Pearlstein, Alexander Isachev, Francis Bacon, Stanislav Plutenko, Peter Blake, Freud Lucien, Michael Parkes, Guy Johnson, Eric Fischl, Nikolai Blokhin, Vasily Shulzhenko.

Despite the fact that the income of modern artists is difficult to calculate, since the creative people live according to the laws of the free, and do not write down their income in income organizers: there is a lot of money - and it’s very wonderful, not at all - there will be tomorrow. However, a list of the richest artists exists; if you happen to be much richer, but you are not included in the list, complain on our Facebook page and we will include you.

So, the richest in the world is the Englishman Damien Hirst, he has accumulated about one billion dollars, having made his fortune by demonstrating the process of death. He created a truly great work of art: he made a series of art objects from the corpses of cows, and also put a tiger shark in a solution of formaldehyde and presented it on his personal exhibition in London. True, in Lately his popularity has waned somewhat, apparently the exalted public has become fairly fed up with manifestations of creative freedom in the form of dissected bodies, and the genius has not yet come up with anything new. At one time, around 2007, a shocking lover of lethality sold his exhibition called “Superstition” for 25 million.

Jeff Koons lives in Pennsylvania, USA. A favorite theme of his work is sculptures of small and large forms with clearly dubious artistic value. Looking at his successful compatriot, Andy Warhol, D. Koons envied the glory of soup cans and decided that he was no worse, and immediately put his works of art. Today Koons is the president of the huge corporation Jeff Koons LLC, which is located in New York and employs about 150 people. They embody in real world the images that Koons creates on the computer.

Takashi Murakami is an artist from Japan. He is interested in design, fashion and anime. It is impossible to say how he made his capital, but his 2007-2008 exhibitions, held in major metropolises of the world “Murakami”, were visited by not a few, not a lot, but 30 million citizens. Just a year and a half ago, Takashi Murakami sold his sculpture “My Lonesome Cowboy” for $16 million. Murakami was even exhibited at the Palace of Versailles in France, as you know, they don’t exhibit crap there. It was Murakami who came up with a psychedelic boy with a huge white-toothed smile and giant bulging eyes. Then he invented a pink, cross-eyed girlfriend for him. Nervous Japanese bear cubs were also his idea. I hesitate to call Murakami’s talents dubious.

Brice Marden was born in 1939, he is the “oldest” of the rich artists. The veteran made money from Urban graphics and calligraphy. Today his works with incomprehensible scribbles go for 11 million dollars.

Julian Schnabel was born in 1951 in New York. In total, he was exhibited more than five thousand times in all major cities. Millions come to look at his artistically designed piles of crap, cement and tattered linoleum. In addition, Julian Schnabel makes films. In the movies, he doesn’t show garbage, but tells people about poets and artists in a cultural manner.

Anish Kapoor moved to England from Bombay, where he was born in 1972. He makes sculptures and installations and has become famous for painting everything near the sculpture in different colors, pokes mirrors and all sorts of textures around to show that his work is part of something known to him alone as a whole. He made a fortune from this original concept and his works are in all modern art museums.

Jasper Johns used to create three-dimensional installations, but now he casts everything in bronze: from a teapot to a calculator. Everything that he “cast” is bought for crazy money by both collectors and museums of modern art.

David painted the walls of Mark Zuckerberg and the then unknown aspiring genius offered him either money or shares of Facebook. The artist chose shares and as a result his fortune is already more than one hundred million, and his works cost more than three thousand euros.

Andrew earned 210 million, and all because he is friends with the right guys - Arab sheikhs. He pushed 125 of his own own works Prince Zaled bin Sultan for only 17 million pounds sterling.

Chunya earned little - only 23 million Euros. All because I spent ten years drawing touching green dogs. Designated dogs Green colour, which you can’t look at without tears, they enriched him.

Current trends

The art of wall painting can currently be called one of the most popular. Skillful painting of ceilings and walls is an excellent way to improve almost any room: residential, entertainment. The artist can apply a drawing to any surface in a different plane. Wall art makes it possible to eliminate any defects in the premises, visually increase the space, and change the level of illumination. Depending on the wishes of the customer, portraits, still lifes, abstraction, fantasy, landscapes, etc. can be depicted on the wall.

Art connoisseurs are interested in painting using unusual “paints”: coffee, milk, berry juices and... beer. Kyle Bice, an artist from Chicago, became the creator of a new direction, calling it beer painting. Beer paintings are extremely popular, his works are bought by celebrities and richest people planets.

Fashion artists

Among the artists whose works are of constant interest to art connoisseurs, one of the most sought-after is Takashi Murakami, who has become a legend of modern art. The peculiarity of his works is the harmonious combination of traditional Japanese painting and current trends of our time. In 2008, Takashi Murakami was included in the list of the 100 most influential people on the planet.

Major international auctions are increasingly including contemporary Russian artists in their auctions of post-war and contemporary art. In February 2007, Sotheby’s held the first and almost sensational specialized auction of Russian contemporary art, which brought 22 auction records. "Artguide" decided to find out which of our contemporary artists has collected the most large amounts at international auctions and, having compiled the top 10 most expensive living Russian artists based on the results of auction sales, discovered some interesting patterns. All sales prices are based on auction house data and include buyer's premium.

Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky. Night fitness. Fragment. Courtesy authors (www.dubossarskyvinogradov.com)

Of course, there could be no doubt about who exactly became the leader of the auction race: Ilya Kabakov’s grandiose “Beetle”, sold in February 2008 at Phillips de Pury for almost £3 million, is probably remembered by everyone who is interested in contemporary art. Funny nursery rhyme, the text of which is written on a wooden panel with a beetle, even acquired a thoughtful intonation in the art historical and market interpretation: “My beetle breaks out, jumps, chirps, it doesn’t want to get into my collection” - this metaphorically means the passion of a collector of modern art for this very beetle bargaining. (The verse quoted by Kabakov, written by the architect A. Maslennikova, an amateur poet from Voronezh, was published in the children’s collection of poems, rhymes and riddles “Between Summer and Winter”, published in 1976 by the publishing house “Children’s Literature” - and Kabakov illustrated this book True, that beetle was not in his black and white illustrations).

It should be added that if we were not making the top 10 most expensive living artists, but the top 10 of their most expensive work, then Kabakov’s paintings would take the first three places on this list. That is, the three most expensive works of a living Russian artist belong to him - in addition to “Beetle”, these are “Luxury Room” 1981 (Phillips de Pury, London, June 21, 2007, £2.036 million) and “Vacation No. 10” 1987 (Phillips de Pury London, 14 April 2011, £1.497 million). On top of that, the generous Kabakov “gave” another record to the Vienna auction Dorotheum - a year ago, on November 24, 2011, the painting “At the University” went there for €754.8 thousand, becoming the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at this auction.

The silver medalist will probably also be easily named by many - this is Eric Bulatov, whose canvas “Glory to the CPSU” was sold for a record amount for the artist at the same Phillips de Pury auction as Kabakov’s “Beetle.”

But the third place was taken by the nonconformist Evgeniy Chubarov, whose late work“Untitled” went to Phillips de Pury for £720,000 in June 2007, which could have been called a surprise if not for the fact that a few months earlier, in February of the same year, Chubarov had already made a sensation at Sotheby’s in London. at a specialized auction of Russian contemporary art, where his work with the same title (or rather, without it) was sold for £288 thousand (with an upper estimate of £60 thousand), not only beating the supposed top lot of that auction, the painting Bulatov's "Revolution - Perestroika" (sale price £198 thousand), but also becoming the most expensive work of a living Russian artist at that time. By the way, here it is, the irony of currency exchange rate fluctuations: in November 2000, Grisha Bruskin’s polyptych was sold in New York for $424 thousand, and then in pounds sterling it was £296.7 thousand, and in February 2007, when it was installed Chubarov’s first record is already only £216.6 thousand.

Works by fourth place winners Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid are frequent and quite successful lots at Western auctions, although their estimates rarely exceed £100 thousand. The duo’s second most expensive work is “The Yalta Conference. The Judgment of Paris" was sold at Macdougall's auction in 2007 for £184.4 thousand. But it should be taken into account, of course, that the painting that brought them fourth place belongs to fairly early works that rarely appear at auction and that it was exhibited in 1976 at the first (and very high-profile) foreign exhibition of Komar and Melamid at the Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York.

Following Komar and Melamid, Oleg Vasiliev and Semyon Faibisovich consistently hold a high bar at auctions. Vasiliev was third in that unusual successful auction Phillips de Pury 2008, which brought records to Ilya Kabakov and Erik Bulatov, and Faibisovich - fourth. Then Vasiliev’s painting “Variation on the theme of the cover of the magazine “Ogonyok”” from 1980 was sold for ₤356 thousand with an estimate of ₤120 thousand, and “Another look at the Black Sea” by Faibisovich from 1986 was sold for £300.5 thousand with an estimate of ₤120 thousand. Estimate £60-80 thousand Works by both artists often fetch six-figure sums at auction.

True, it was not the record-breaking “Soldiers” that brought Faibisovich fame at auction, but the painting “Beauty,” sold at Sotheby’s on March 12, 2008 - this was the auction house’s second auction of contemporary Russian art, not counting the Moscow auction in 1988. The painting (its other name is “The First of May”) then went for £264 thousand with an estimate of £60-80 thousand; a real battle broke out between buyers for it. Another painting by Faibisovich “On Moskovskaya Street” at that auction exceeded the estimate twice and was sold for £126 thousand. We add that, according to the Artprice portal, Semyon Faibisovich is the only Russian artist included in the top 500 best-selling 2011-2012.

About the same can be said about Oleg Tselkov, who occupies eighth place in the top 10. Already half a century ago, he found his style and theme, a recognizable and authoritative artist, he regularly supplies auctions with his fluorescent round faces, which have continued success. The second most expensive painting by Tselkov, “Five Faces,” was sold in June 2007 at MacDougall’s for £223.1 thousand, the third, “Two with Beetles,” was sold in November of the same year at the same auction (MacDougall’s always puts up for auction several Tselkovs of different price range) for £202.4 thousand.

Grisha Bruskin in the auction history of Russian contemporary art had special role since 1988, from the Moscow Sotheby’s auction under the name Russian Avant-Garde and Soviet Contemporary Art, where his “Fundamental Lexicon” was sold for a sensational £220 thousand, 12 times higher than the estimate. About the same thing, and maybe even more sensational, happened with the polyptych “Logia. Part I” in 2000 at Christie’s in New York: the polyptych went for $424 thousand, exceeding the upper estimate by 21 (!) times - this alone can be considered a kind of record. Most likely, this extraordinary purchase is due not least to the significance of Bruskin’s name as the hero of the legendary Moscow Sotheby’s auction, because no other auction sales of Bruskin even come close to these amounts.

The price of Oscar Rabin does not fluctuate, but is steadily and very noticeably growing, especially for works Soviet period— all the most expensive works by this master sold at auction were painted in the late 1950s - early 1970s. These are (in addition to his record-breaking "Socialist City") "Baths (Smell the Cologne "Moscow", 1966, Sotheby's, New York, April 17, 2007, $336 thousand) and "Violin in the Graveyard" (1969, Macdougall's, London, November 27 2006, £168.46).

The top ten are closed by representatives of the younger generation - Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky, whose most expensive paintings were sold at Phillips de Pury (the second most expensive is “The Last Butterfly”, 1997, Phillips de Pury, New York, $181 thousand). These artists, in general, continue a trend that is quite clearly noticeable in the ranking of the most expensive paintings by living artists. We’ll talk about it a little lower, but for now here’s, finally, a list of the most expensive works of living Russian artists.

Top 10 works by living Russian artists

1. Ilya Kabakov (b. 1933). Bug. 1982. Wood, enamel. 226.5 x 148.5. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, February 28, 2008. Estimate £1.2-1.8 million. Sale price £2.93 million.

2. Erik Bulatov (b. 1933). Glory to the CPSU. 1975. Oil on canvas. 229.5 x 229. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, February 28, 2008. Estimate £500-700 thousand. Sale price £1.084 million.

3. Evgeny Chubarov (b. 1934). Untitled. 1994. Oil on canvas. 300 x 200. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, June 22, 2007. Estimate £100-150 thousand. Sale price £720 thousand.

4. Vitaly Komar (b. 1943) and Alexander Melamid (b. 1945). Meeting between Solzhenitsyn and Bell at Rostropovich's dacha. 1972. Oil on canvas, collage, gold foil. 175 x 120. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, April 23, 2010. Estimate £100-150 thousand. Sale price £657.25 thousand.

5. Oleg Vasiliev (b. 1931). Before sunset. 1990. Oil on canvas. 210 x 165. Sotheby’s auction, London, March 12, 2008. Estimate £200-300 thousand. Sale price £468.5 thousand.

6. Semyon Faibisovich (b. 1949). Soldiers. From the series “Stations”. 1989. Oil on canvas. 285.4 x 190.5. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, October 13, 2007. Estimate £40-60 thousand. Sale price £311.2 thousand.

8. Oleg Tselkov (b. 1934). Boy with balloons. Canvas, oil. 103.5 x 68.5. MacDougall's auction, London, November 28, 2008. Estimate £200-300 thousand. Sale price £238.4 thousand.

9. Oscar Rabin (b. 1928). City and Moon (Socialist City). 1959. Oil on canvas. 90 x 109. Sotheby’s auction, New York, April 15, 2008. Estimate $120-160 thousand. Sale price $337 thousand (£171.4 at the dollar to pound sterling exchange rate as of April 2008).

10. Alexander Vinogradov (b. 1963) and Vladimir Dubossarsky (b. 1964). Night training. 2004. Oil on canvas. 194.9 x 294.3. Phillips de Pury & Company auction, London, June 22, 2007. Estimate £15-20 thousand. Sale price £132 thousand.

It is known that auction prices are an irrational thing and one cannot judge by them the true role and significance of the artist in the artistic process. But from them and from the top lots one can roughly judge collector’s preferences. What are they? You don't need to be an expert to answer this question. They are obvious. Firstly, all the artists (except perhaps Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky) are “living classics” in years, and very respectable ones at that. Secondly, for almost each of them the records were set not by works of recent years, but by much earlier ones, that is, the pattern “the older, the better” is relevant here too. Thirdly, without exception, all works from the top 10 are easel paintings. Fourthly, these are all large and very large paintings. The only ones that can be considered more or less “standard” in this regard are “The City and the Moon” by Oscar Rabin and “The Boy with Balloons” by Oleg Tselkov; all the others greatly exceed human height in height (not even in width). Finally, for all these artists, the theme of the Soviet (in particular, nonconformist) past is in one way or another relevant, in many cases accentuated in their works. It seems that our collectors are experiencing acute nostalgia for this very Soviet past (it is well known that it is Russian collectors who buy Russian art in the West).

Younger than the other leaders of auction sales, Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky are somewhat stubbornly trying to break out of the dozens of harsh nonconformists, but this is only at first glance. In fact, if you imagine which of the generations following Kabakov, Bulatov, Rabin, Vasiliev, Tselkov can best meet the above criteria for purchase (large-sized easel paintings, rehashes of Soviet genres, motifs and stylistics), then this will probably turn out to be Vinogradov and Dubossarsky, worthy heirs of the masters of previous decades. At least judging by auction sales.