Art Market Monitor

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The Face Gets a Close Up

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Daria Zhukova re-emerges as the face of the art market after a brief hiatus. Her recent show of works from Francois Pinault’s collection has been getting good press. Here she sits down with Peter Aspden of the Financial Times:

Her enthusiasm for the project is palpable. She takes my napkin to show how the parallelogram structure of the building has been adapted over the past 12 months to form a versatile home for future exhibitions. She says she only ever thought about the Garage as a space for hosting “6,000 square metres of amazing contemporary art”.

[ . . . ] Zhukova says the introductory element of the Pinault show, curated by Caroline Bourgeois, is deliberately conceived. Moscow is a reluctant embracer of novel art forms and she wanted to show a panorama of contemporary art to what may be a grudging public. “I am sure a lot of people won’t understand it. A lot of people will be confused and sceptical. The most popular art movement here is Impressionism, that’s what we were taught was beautiful.” She knows it’s a long way from Renoir to the hyper-polished hearts of Jeff Koons or the raw visual jokes of Maurizio Cattelan. [ . . . ]

I say one of my worries about contemporary art is that it can appear over-decorative, and shows little sign of engagement with social and political issues. “That can be true but maybe people are tired of political art and want something beautiful.” [ . . . ]Continue Reading

Not Just a Pretty Face

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The Face’s Gallery Opening Gets A Lot of Coverage

Dasha Zukhova is The Face of the art market these days but she’s also a pretty face. And though WWD has a nice little blurb on the opening of the Moscow Garage Center for Contemporary Art, it would seem like we’re just running this as an excuse to post a pretty picture of the woman. (OK, we are.) But while we’re at it, here’s the Independent‘s take on the opening; an interview with Bloomberg; and the Moscow Times.

BusinessWeek runs a story with some interesting facts worth noting:

Philip Hoffmann, chief executive of The Fine Art Fund, told the Business Standard in August that only 20 individuals account for $2 billion to $4 billion worth of art sold worldwide each year out of a total art market as much as $50 billion.

Meanwhile, many see Zuhkova’s Garage Center as major step forward in the re-establishment of art as an important part of Russian culture:

Los Angeles-based art critic Alexander Panov said that, while the gallery may have started life as a billionaire’s vanity project, it has the potential for anchoring modern art in Russia.

“Are those in attendance mostly snobs and ‘wannabes’ who were there simply to show their Gucci bags and Armanis?” he said in an email. “Yes. Is art collecting simply a new expensive toy leading to greater social-cultural status in the hands of Abramovich? Yes again. Finally, is there a chance for good, thought provoking exhibitions to start and support a culture of open-minded, stimulating intellectual discourse? Yes as well.”

Defending the Face

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The Times of London Profiles Dasha Zhukova and Dispels Some Myths About Her

As Vogue covers the opening of her new Moscow space, James Collard sat down with Dasha Zhukova and came away impressed:

For many young Russian women Zhukova represents a different kind of icon from a mere trophy beauty, because she’s savvy and professionally ambitious as well as attractive and chic, rather than bling, like an earlier wave of post-Soviet lovelies. And in common with her good friend Polina Deripaska – not just the wife of an oligarch, but also head of the publishing group FMG – Zhukova has always worked. She launched what she describes as a “small but successful” fashion label, Kova & T, with her old schoolfriend Christina Tang, and while by her own admission, she’s not “some art genius”, she has put all her energies and star power into getting the Garage off the ground.

[ . . . ]

She’s also looking for sponsorship – and given Zhukova’s own cachet in Russia, now arguably the luxury goods industry’s leading market, it’s not hard to imagine some fancy-schmancy brands being only too willing to be associated with such a high-profile project. Interestingly, the second show at the Garage will be of contemporary art from the large collection of luxury goods tycoon François Pinault. “A great show for us,” says Zhukova, “given that many Russians aren’t so familiar with a lot of contemporary art, and his collection includes the best of many different kinds of work.”

[ . . . ]

There’s something disturbing in the ease with which the contemporary art scene
– which surely prides itself on its wild, free-form creativity –
settles down to doing business in countries like Russia and China. For the
art world, there are profits to be made and new opportunities, while for a
modern, outward-looking woman like Zhukova, introducing Russians to contemporary
art via the Garage and the educational programmes she plans must seem
exciting, progressive – and also politically neutral. Perhaps Russians
might now almost be hard-wired to tread carefully when it comes to politics
– and while Zhukova seems likeable, smart and funny and remarkably
down-to-earth, like many of her generation of Russians she seems no more
given to questioning the status quo than a Romanov princess might have been.

The Moscow Mash (Style.com)

How Dasha Zhukova is Revolutionizing Russian the Russian Art World (Times of London)

Russians and Americans

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The Discreet Charms of the Russian Bourgeoisie

A good reminder of the effect Russian commodities wealth is having on the luxury market comes from the Daily Mail:

Seven of the world’s 25 richest people. Some 87 billionaires. The highest concentration of billionaires in its capital city. ( . . . ) Its new uber-rich aristocracy has been carving out its own dynasties, buying up multi-million pound properties (a mystery Russian buyer reportedly stumped up £397 million for a Cote d’Azur castle this month) football clubs and priceless art masterpieces.Continue Reading

The Face Gets Her Close-Up

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Dara Zhukova profiled in the New York Times

Carol Vogel’s examination of Dara Zhukova (left, in a photo by Jonathan Worth) and her role in the Contemporary art market does a nice job of capturing the young diletante’s appeal. That’s why we call her The Face (of the art market.) The Garage opening party is only part of the equation but an important part:

“It took chutzpah for Dasha to put on an event and attract so many people,” said Oliver Barker, head of contemporary art at Sotheby’s in London. “It shows how seriously they’re taking her.”Continue Reading

The Tate and The Face

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Dasha Zhukova gets Nicholas Serota in Hot Water

Dasha Zhukova has quickly become the Face of the art market because she’s an attractive Russian with ambitions in the art world and a strong connection to Roman Abramovich. Whether the market is entirely in the thrall of Anglo-Russo expatriates or not, her every move has become the center of gravity for the market.

Into that vortex comes Nicholas Serota, artistic director of the Tate in London, who has begun to act as an adviser to Ms. Zhukova’s new Moscow gallery, the Center for Contemporary Culture. The measure of outrage in this Telegraph article suggests the issue is less Serota’s role than a growing unease among the British about the Russians and their influence.Continue Reading

The Face of the Market

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Dasha Zhukov is making a bid for the Art/Fashion crown.

Is her appearance an indication of the top?

There is an old saw in the financial markets that when a trend is featured on a magazine cover, that’s an indication of a top. It’s all down hill from there. Well, Russians have become the media’s fixation when it comes to the art market. Look at this teaser. Could that mean Russians have already peaked in buying power and influence over the market? Or has Roman Abramovich’s very visible buying sent a signal to other Oligarch’s that it is open season on art?Continue Reading

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