By James Butterwick, art advisor to Oracle Capital Group
Two facts have become clearer in the last month, another month of soaring prices in the Art world.
Firstly, growth in the Russian sector, it would appear, is going to increase with signs that the political crisis in the Crimea may positively affect sales. In my article for the Oracle Capital website last month I wrote how ‘people ‘move into collectibles’ when times are rough, that great art will always find a buyer and may even be a “financial-crisis-free” investment.’
The first signs from participants in the bi-annual Moscow Arts Fair are just that. People may diversify into art buying as a safe haven in line with the increase in gold and silver prices over the last three-four weeks. I am taking part myself, with the sponsorship of Oracle Capital Group, showing 11 works by the great Ukrainian Cubo-Futurist, Alexander Bogomazov.
Secondly, the wires in Russia are buzzing with news of the arrest of Elena Basner of the Russian Museum for her part in a sale of a fake painting. To those with no experience of the Russian Art world this might sound like a scandal, but Mikhail Kamensky, General Director of Sotheby’s Russia, sees it quite differently. “Now it is difficult to imagine a situation where expensive works of the Russian academics will be offered for sale without convincing provenance and a number of expert and art historical documents.”
I agree with Mr Kamensky, who goes on to say that, “works with a flawless provenance and authoritative certificate (of expertise) will become even more expensive”. I have been fighting a battle with so-called ‘experts’ (these are almost always misguided academics) for many years, both Russian and European, writing articles, reading lectures and this arrest is indeed a positive step forward since ‘experts’ will think very carefully before signing another certificate of authenticity. Sadly, such a ruling has yet to reach the West, but I think this is only a matter of time. I am always torn as to whether these ‘experts’ have written these certificates as ‘honest mistakes’ or whether something more sinister lies behind it. I was recently part of a panel of experts at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow where we discussed the recent blockbuster exhibition of Natalia Goncharova, an artist who has been both faked and ‘authenticated’, indeed I gave a lecture on the subject at the Tretyakov last year. More information is available on my site.
My position as an art dealer, a consultant and, in certain cases, an expert, is simple. You have a responsibility to buyers that, should they wish to re-sell any item from through you in the future, then this item must be sellable through the secondary market, one of the two leading auctions houses, the leading galleries or dealers. Whilst there is no guarantee that the work will actually sell, at least the gallery/dealer/auction house will not reject it on the grounds of authenticity.
This is something I try and explain to new buyers over and again. Credible provenance and exhibition history are the two keys to buying and chemical expertise, a device beloved of the academics, is only enough to convince me that a painting is NOT genuine, not the other way round. These chemical certificates are a phenomena found far more in the Russian market than on any other. Clearly however, I wish to be more convinced because I am part sponsoring a conference in The Hague this May entitled “Authentication in Art”. It may interest readers to know that among my fellow sponsors are Sotheby’s, Bonhams and TEFAF, Maastricht, the world’s leading art fair.
The authentication of work by Bogomazov is a case in point. I will be exhibiting 11 oils and works on paper at the Moscow Arts Fair all with a flawless provenance and exhibition history. In essence, there are four major collectors of Bogomazov in Kiev and I know all of them personally. Each of them, and they range in age from 55 to 75, were at one point or another on friendly terms with either the artist’s window, Wanda who lived to a ripe old age, or a member of the immediate family. From these the four collectors acquired their collections (in some cases, the artist’s widow wrote something on the back of the work) but it leaves no doubt whatsoever of the works authenticity, something that I back up, as the seller, with a certificate of my own.
It is an exhibition of which I am enormously proud. Whilst prices for Bogomazov vary from $30,000 for a good quality work on paper to $3,000,000 for a top oil, he is an artist who is, undeservedly, outside the main league table of Russian avant gardists. This is partly a geographical question, he rarely travelled outside his native Ukraine, but there is insufficient material available. I am delighted that with this exhibition and the help of Oracle Capital we will begin a re-assessment of the artist.
