Oracle Capital Group’s sponsored Alexander Volkov exhibition at Christie’s in September has been met with high praise from London’s art scene.
Alexander Volkov is one of the most important Russian artists of the 20th century, but his work is little known outside the former Soviet Union. The Of Sand and Silk exhibition, sponsored by Oracle Capital Group, is his first international solo show.
Speaking of Oracle Capital Group’s support for Volkov’s debut international showing, Alexis de Tiesenhausen, International Head of Russian Department at Christie’s, said:
“Alexander Volkov: Sand and Silk” is our second exhibition project at Christie’s London together with Oracle Capital Group, who supports our initiatives in discovering Russian art to a broader public. Two years ago, we held an exhibition of the finest selection of Russian works of art from the collection of the State Kasteev Museum of Arts in Kazakhstan. It received a great response from the audience. This time we are delighted to introduce the oeuvre of Alexander Volkov to an international audience. The exhibition opened almost two weeks ago and draws great attention from the art collectors all over the world, press and the general public. Christie’s sincerely hopes that the exhibition will generate the attention this artist truly deserves”.
The show was co-curated by Volkov’s grandson Andrey Volkov, who is himself an artist. The opening of the exhibition was attended by not just Andrey Volkov, but Alexander Volkov’s two sons, Valery & Alexander, with their wives.
Speaking after the opening, they praised the show, saying:
“This exhibition is a milestone in the history of our father’s legacy. During his lifetime, his works were rarely shown outside of the Soviet Union. This is the first solo exhibition of his early works in London and we are sure that it will change the perception of his art drastically. We would like to thank Christie’s and Oracle Capital Group for making this project possible. The exhibition consists of 59 works ranging from the landscape études that our father painted en plein air during summer expeditions to his native Turkestan while he was studying at the Kiev School of Arts, to works produced in the early 1930s before Socialist Realism became official artistic style of Soviet propaganda. We hope that this exhibition will expand the recognition of our father as a significant international artist and that people would be encouraged to get to know his oeuvre better.”
Guests too were impressed with the not just the artist’s work but the exhibition itself. One guest confirmed that “the Volkov family was lovely and the paintings full of Central Asian colours”, while another called the evening “a most beautiful event… every detail had been taken care of”.
