IZO

Some mystery about the views of of Jean-Hubert Martin, Kandinsky Prize judge and curator of the upcoming Moscow Biennale. When the Kandinsky Prizes were awarded, he was ill and couldn't attend, and therefore didn't vote. But he is on record as saying, of the overall winner, Alexei Belyaev-Gintovt: "I don't understand how such uninteresting works, devoid of any innovativeness, could win such a prize" (IZO, earlier). Yet, according to Kandinsky Prize committee chairman, Shalva Breus, at the long-list stage of voting Martin had given Belyaev-Gintovt nine marks out of a possible ten (IZO, earlier).

Art Manezh, a thorough photo-report (artinvestment.ru, in Russian).

The Art Manege fair contains plenty of the usual salon-style works, but there are also galleries showing Natalia Nesterova, Tatiana Nazarenko, Maxim Kantor, Sergei Sherstyuk, Francisco Infante, Vladimir Nemukhin and Yuri Kuper. If I can make photoshop work here in Moscow, I'll post photos at some point.

Art Basel Miami Beach slow-down (Miami Herald). Damien Hirst 10-15% other criteria price-cut (below cut).

The Art Manezh fair opens today (RIA Novosti, in Russian).

The crisis analysis for Art Basel Miami Beach (Linda Lee/Artinfo).

Looking forward to Art Basel Miami Beach (Spiegel Online):

But regardless of the crisis, one group remains very relaxed -- the new Russian art lovers. They are also the ones maintaining Miami's art show tradition of glamorous parties. Maybe the glossy show is just financed by money on loan, but at least they don't let the downturn spoil their moods. 23-year-old Maria Baibakowa, for example, invited "friends from across the world" to her party in Florida. The millionaire's daughter from Moscow is an art historian and oversees her father Oleg Baibakowa's collection. In December, she will open her own art showroom in an old chocolate factory under the name "Red October." She says that the opening will be big, even by Moscow's standards. She embodies a new generation of Russian collectors which enjoys life and art but avoids making rash purchases. She suspects that the crisis in the art world will echo that of the financial world -- but with a six month time lag: "in February, the prices could really fall." The only thing that really bothers her is that the quality of the works on offer could decline.

The tenth Non/Fiction book fair for "intellectuals" at the Central House of the Artist is proving tremendously popular (drugoi).

Slide-show from the Millionaire Fair at Krokus-Expo, Moscow (Kommersant). And a report and further (better) slide-show here (Sun).

Looking forward to Art Basel in belt-tightening mood (New York Magazine), but: 

A tight ticket is the coming-out party for the new owners of Phillips de Pury—“the Leonids,” Strunin and Friedland—to meet clients and collectors, sponsored by Tsum, the Russian department store they own.

Video of French plain-clothes police on the XL stand at the recent FIAC demanding the removal from display of works by Oleg Kulik (IZO, earlier) (via kotomish).

Apparently XL gallerists Selina and Khripun were not merely arrested at FIAC (IZO, earlier), they were strip-searched. Which suggests a search for drugs. Which to creative minds in Moscow suggests that someone tried to set them up. I doubt it.

Devastating put down by Anatoli Ulyanov of Art Kiev with plenty of pictures (it seems to bear out a comment on IZO, yesterday) (Proza, in Russian):

May be leading collectors, critics and journalists visit it? Maybe you can smell lucre? Not at all. Does participation in Art-Kiev influence an artist's career in any way? Another no. So what's it all for? In aid of what?

The Kandinsky prize shortlist preview opens in Moscow tonight. Christies' big impressionist and modern art evening sale also takes place tonight in New York. It's heavy on the School of Paris of course but also has several Kandinskys, including a 1910 work (lot 48) estimated at $15-20 million. I'm waiting for Matisse to come down a bit more (there's a – admittedly not very exciting – 1907 portrait estimated $600-800,000) and Faibisovich to go up a bit more so I can swap ;)

A gallerist friend tells me that in fact Art Kiev (IZO, earlier) is a laughable institution, full of Bayswater Road-style paintings. If so, there's an opening for someone who wants to create a serious art fair in Kiev.

Art-Kiev 2008 has opened on five floors of the Ukrainian House (Komsomolskaya Pravda, in Russian; stb.ua, video, in Ukrainian).

Not much Russian art at yesterday's Art Forum opening in Berlin, apart from work by Vadim Zakharov and Anatoli Zhuravlev at GMG Gallery. Art Forum itself has been criticised for the absence of many of Berlin's leading galleries who either applied to the fair and didn't get the space they wanted, or else ignored it. The Russian invasion of Berlin continues, however: AES+F have reportedly bought an old school in the region of Alexanderplatz, and several Russian artists including Dmitri Vrubel are looking for studio space.

Today the Berlin Liste fair opens, no Russian galleries there as far as I can see. At the more important Artforum tomorrow Moscow's GMG Gallery is present. GMG Gallery is run by Marina Goncharenko, curator Anatoli Zhuravlev.

Sales hold up at FIAC (AFP).

More on the Kulik confiscations and arrest (IZO, earlier). The police attended the FIAC fair in Paris last Friday at the behest of French customs. They arrested the gallerists Elena Selina and Sergei Khripun of XL Gallery and confiscated photo-works by Kulik in which he was playing the part of a dog. Selina and Khripun were released after intervention by the FIAC boss, but the works are still in police hands (Kommersant, in Russian).

Last installment of Ekaterina Degot's Frieze blog (Open Space, in Russian).

A stroll around the Antiques Salon, at which, apparently, the quantity of fakes exceeds "conceivable boundaries" (marina_yudenich, in Russian):

In the end I have to say – without any joy, in fact with sadness – that I stand by my words of five years ago: there are no proper antique dealers left, but instead of them we have distinguished-looking silver-haired black-market traders who in the 1970s sold jeans. And chewing gum.

The XXV Antiques Salon runs until 25 October at the Central House of the Artist (Kommersant, in Russian).

Another look at the cooling market at Frieze: this is the definitive statement so far about what's going on in Russia (The Scotsman):

Elena Silena [sic], from Moscow’s XL Gallery, says the Russian market has just stopped. “This market will stop for maybe half a year,” she says. “People have money but they have stopped buying. They are thinking about the crisis.”

Russians at the Frieze private view last night: XL Gallery, whose stand looked very good; Regina Gallery; Iosif Bakshtein, Ekaterina Degot, who is blogging her week in London (Open Space, in Russian), Alex Lachmann. The highlight for me was the sight of Emma Watson, aka Hermione, aka Гермион, walking around with her young man.

Vladimir Ovcharenko of Regina Gallery on the prospects for Frieze, which opens in Regents Park on Wednesday (Bloomberg):

"Frieze will be quiet,'' said Moscow-based dealer Vladimir Ovcharenko, participating in the fair for the first time, in an e- mail. The ultra-rich Russian collectors "lost billions in stocks last months. Nobody wants to think about art now.''

The first Russian Art Fair will take place in the "stunning ballroom of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in fashionable Knightsbridge", London, in June 2009 (Russian Art Fair). From the e-mailed press release: Stand Prices: £500 per exhibitor plus £295 per square metre.

The third Moscow Biennale, planned for 24-29 September 2009, will be called Against Exclusion (Против исключения), according to the curator, Jean-Hubert Martin (Open Space, in Russian).

Congratulations to Vladimir Ovcharenko/Regina Gallery, the second Russian gallery (following XL) to get a stall at the Frieze Art Fair.

Grigori Revzin discourses at length on his role as curator of the Russian pavilion at the forthcoming Venice architecture biennale; the main contribution will be by Nikolai Polisski (Kommersant, in Russian).

Olga Sviblova's appointment as curator of the Russian pavilion at the next Venice Biennale has been annulled and an "open competition" announced? (galerist, in Russian).

Report, including images, from the Moscow International Biennale of Young Art (vash-pasha, in Russian).

A look at the by all accounts successful Moscow International Biennale of Young Art, curated by Darya Pyrkina (Artinfo).

Roman and Darya at Basel (The First Post).

Abramovich Prowls Art Basel (Bloomberg).

Marat Guelman reports a small Russian presence at Basel: the XL Gallery booth, and Dubossarsky and Vinogradov at Deitch Projects; but a lot of work by Ilya Kabakov, some galleries tempted it seems by the recent surge in his prices (galerist, in Russian). There are also rumours that Roman Abramovich has been taking a look around.

Another look at the Moscow World Fine Art Fair (Daily Telegraph):

It is men like Dmitry Kushaev, a millionaire banker, who are helping stave off a collapse in the mid-range market. Mr Kushaev, who says he would never pay more than about £270,000 for a painting, says he has begun to branch out into Western art for the first time.

A report on the Moscow World Fine Art Fair (John Varoli/Bloomberg). Many dealers have a unique source of supply which ensures them some financial stability in an uncertain business. In the case of the Moscow firm Maricevic, it appears to be the work of Russian painter Stepan Kolesnikov:

After the 1917 Revolution, Kolesnikov fled Russia and in 1920 he settled in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Over the past six years, Maricevic has brought more than 200 of Kolesnikov's works from Serbia for sale in Russia.

An interview with Jean-Hubert Martin, named as curator of the third Moscow Biennale, which will be held in the already-legendary Melnikov garage. He plans on bringing in little-seen art from Africa, Asia, Oceania. Apparently, there are already over 110 biennales around the world (Kommersant, in Russian).

A look at negotiations behind the Moscow Architecture Biennale, which opens on 27 May (Kommersant, in Russian).

A report on Art Moscow, with prices (Artinfo). I can add that a large work on paper by A.Kallima, one of the most heavily-promoted young Russian artists, was sold from the Guelman Gallery stand for a reported €45,000.

The art-until-dawn event (доутрарт) last night produced a mass turn-out. Vinzavod was like a football stadium on big match day (Marat Guelman says, like Red Square on 7 November, Soviet era). I staged a strategic retreat to the guest-list-protected Triumph Gallery where I enjoyed a glass of champagne and looked at dark glistening paintings by Ukrainian Sergei Chaika. Then back into the fray. The crowd at Art4ru was spilling onto the streets; the intimate physical access Igor Markin allows to his art collection is remarkable: and as far as I can tell people don't abuse it. A lot of artists were out and about. A 3 am pot of green tea at Cafemania by the Conservatory set me back about 15 quid, I think.

A look at Art Moscow and associated events (John Varoli/Bloomberg).

Scenes from Art Moscow:
- Tsekh Gallery (Kiev) booth; pretty well sold out on VIP night.
- Blue Nose Alexander Shaburov gives an interview (Guelman Gallery).
- Work by Oleg Dou (Aidan Gallery).
- Anatoli Osmolovski, bread piece (fore); Blue Noses/Ilya Chichkan collaboration allowing you to play ping-pong with Albert Einstein (aft); curator Ekaterina Degot (seated) (Guelman Gallery).
- IV Height group (on the wall); Andrei Prigov (passing by).
- Julian Schnabel at Kaj Forsblum.
- Porno cut-outs by, I guess, Porolon, but maybe I am wrong.
- Triumph Gallery booth.
- Gary Tatintsian Gallery booth.
- Elena Vrublevskaya Gallery, mysterious and effective performance/installation.
- Work by Dima Gutov (Guelman Gallery).
- Girls, girls, girls: in foreground, sculpture by AES+F (Triumph Gallery).

The new surgically-enhanced Art Moscow has shrunk perceptibly. In fact, it would be even smaller had not Guelman Gallery occupied three spaces and Kaj Forsblum, from Finland, two. For whatever reason, the space freed up hasn't been occupied by more interesting galleries from abroad; since Volker Diehl set up in Moscow we have to count him as Russian, so Forsblum is now the only major foreign participant. Why? Maybe the Art Moscow pr is to blame? I get invitations to participate from all sorts of fairs all over the world, but nary an email from the Art Moscow. Or maybe the show is the victim of the art world's perceived wisdom: that there are only three or four events where you can count on making money (Frieze/Zoo in London; Art Basel in Switzerland and Miami; the Armory Show). I also wonder, prompted by an incident affecting an artist whom I have shown in London, the Latvian photographer Arnis Balcus, whether the fair is victim to creeping embourgeoisement. Work from Balcus's series Flowers was due to be shown on the Riga Gallery stand, but the organisers requested it be excluded. Below, a Balcus from the prohibited series. No black cock in Moscow, pliz!

The Art Moscow fair opens tomorrow in the Central House of the Artist. I read somewhere that the number of participating galleries has been cut from 70-odd to 40-something. I'm told that the organisers decided to dispense with Western dealers who merely brought over blue-chip artists (Warhol etc) in search of sales, preferring galleries who develop their own stable of artists. Makes sense to me.

The annual spring antiques' salon, the demise of which as a serious event seemed on the cards because of competition from the Fine Arts Fair, looks good this year. There are strong stands from Maricevic and, back-to-back with them at the entrance to the show, LPM Fine Art; and from Private Collection: a selection paintings owned by businessman Sergei Ivanov which include the huge Malyavin shown at Venice in the 20s and unaccountably unsold at Sotheby's a few years ago. The entire Central House of the Artist is full. The best work of the show, in my opinion, is a huge Lentulov from circa 1932: the interior of a shop; asking price is $1.5 million.

A preview of the traditional spring antiques' fair at the Central House of the Artist, which includes the exhibition Pipe And Bottle, "consisting of items from private collections, [it] will be dedicated to bad habits and human weaknesses as depicted in European and Russian art" (Moscow Times). I wonder: exactly which "bad habits" will be on display? When I began art-dealing, a few weeks ago, it was already much harder to sell a still-life with meat as opposed to fruit and veg; will the price of images of drinking and smoking also be hit by new mores?

I am told there are plans for the 2010 Manifesta to be staged in Kiev with the assistance of a foundation set up by Ukrainian gallerist Lyudmila Bereznitskaya, who is currently active in Berlin. Off-top: while in Berlin today I visited Julius Werner (son of the mighty Michael) in his gallery on the swish Kochstrasse. Werner junior has a couple of hundred square metres, in which he was showing works from the eighties by A R Penck priced at up to €3.5 million. We had a useful conversation; talking about his business, he said to me: "I'm just starting out." Doing well in Berlin: Russian artist Anna Parkina, who now shows at Coma Gallery, one of the best new-media spaces; and here is her performance courtesy of Youtube. I don't know what it's about: some kind of Kafkaean metamorphosis?

A look at the Photobiennale (Valentin Diaconov/Artinfo).