Now don’t get me wrong, every Russian oligarch out there still has more wealth than most mortal men can imagine, if they want to fork out $3 for ‘The Illumination of the Kremlin’, by Russian artist Isaak Levitan for the guest cloakroom, or a $4.5 million portrait of N.A. Tikhonov by Yuri Annenkov for the study, or just a couple of Fabergé eggs for their catwalk model mistress’s birthday, they can do it. Don’t ask me why, just be rest assured they have the capital to buy anything they want no matter the price. Russian art, of course, has been a favourite amongst the Russian Oligarchy over the last decade, mainly due to it’s rarity, most of it having been destroyed with the formation of the now defunct USSR.
However, if we take a longer term view on the rise and rise of Russia’s super rich the picture may not be as rosy as it first seems. Perhaps it’s finally the global credit crunch nipping at their heels, or it may just be the drop in fuel and energy prices over the last year, or perhaps it’s simply down to one story featured at ArtInfo.com regarding the cancellation of the sixth highly exuberant Moscow World Fine Art Fair. Although strangely enough you won’t find any mention of it at MWFAF’s site (just yet), although I can’t blame the organisers for delaying the inevitable, the fact is Russia have had over a decade of incredible economic growth and have been largely responsible for a surge in art prices just as the rest of the world’s markets have tumbled. MWFAF’s general manager (Sixtine Crutchfield) is quoted as saying, it is "due to the inability to secure sufficient sponsorship". Their sponsorship covers the approximately €3 million ($3.9 million) production costs of the fair, furthermore two major dealers including the jewellers Bulgari have also pulled out leaving the organisers high and dry.
A great deal of Russia’s new economic clout is due to their enormous gas reserves, energy prices have (excuse the pun) fuelled an explosion in new wealth in the country, and of course the rise of the oligarchy. In Putin’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on the 28th of January 2009 he is quoted as saying "Every one of us realises that sharp and unpredictable fluctuations of energy prices are a colossal destabilising factor in the global economy. Today’s landslide fall of prices will lead to a growth in the consumption of resources. On the one hand, investments in energy saving and alternative sources of energy will be curtailed. On the other, less money will be invested in oil production, which will result in its inevitable downturn. Which, in the final analysis, will escalate into another fit of uncontrolled price growth and a new crisis." This may or may not be a highly veiled admittance that Russia expects economic dificulties ahead, and thus the art world can expect a similar impact as the recent torrent of Rubles that have literally poured into the market will begin to dry up.
In The Times Online dated January 24th 2009 Daria Dasha Zhukova (heiress and celebrity girlfriend of Chelsea FC’s billionaire owner and oligarch Roman Abramovich quest to save Russia’s ageing and rather decrepit Modernist architecture. After opening her Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, originally a bus garage designed by celebrated pre-Stalinist architect Konstantin Melnikov, she has promoted her case for restoring more of Russia’s pre-Stalinist architecture. Alongside Sergey Gordeev, the 35-year-old billionaire property developer and Russian senator, who has bought a half share in Melnikov’s house and studio, she hopes to engage a new Zeitgeist in Russian taste for Modernist architecture. However as time has moved on t
he lack of expertise, enthusiasm and excessive costs in restoring many of their historic buildings, predominantly made from rather inferior materials has resulted in a general climbdown from the Russian oligarchy. Over 400 historic buildings have been demolished since the collapse of the USSR, it seems that aping Western tastes is a more profitable route for a majority of property Russian developers.
it may just be that this unique period in history, one where Russia has almost single-handedly kept the world arts market buoyant may finally be coming to an end. Although the figures are still phenomenal, it seems that Russia’s collective purse does have limit. On Friday 30th, The Russian News Room reported "A painting by avant-garde Russian artist Kazimir Malevich sold for a record-price of just over $60 million at an auction in New York despite gloom over the global financial crisis. The 1916 "Suprematist Composition," which had been displayed in Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum before being returned to the artist’s family, was sold to an unnamed buyer at Sotherby’s on Monday evening. The price is the highest ever paid for a Russian painting at auction. However, 25 out of 70 paintings up for sale failed to sell, amid fears that the art market is facing a downturn, with total sales for the evening reaching $223.8 million lower than the pre-sale estimate of $337- $475 million."
On December 28th 2008 CE.cn reported that "…Russia in 2009, as a result of the budget based on high oil prices of 95 U.S. dollars, if oil prices continue to be low in Russia, next year it is likely to appear for the first time for 10 years as a deficit."
Of course all eyes will now turn to China who are said to have enormous cash reserves ready and waiting for investment in all markets, of course tastes will preside and as Russia mainly favoured it’s own art history, China will most likely invest heavily in New Chinese Art, in turn raising prices worldwide for their chosen prodigies. Still, it would be nice to think that some of the spillover will reach our shores and continue to support the European and American arts for the medium-term.
