The financial sanctions imposed on Russian entrepreneurs have increased the interest of capital owners in the works of Russian artists and photographers, Olga Michi, co-founder of the Béton Center of Visual Culture, believes. Masters of photography are working in the country and the demand for their works is growing.
- How is art photography collecting different from other types of collecting?
- By the fact that the photographic art market can still offer the collector works of the highest museum level. Collectors have a chance to get masterpieces of the world photographic art of the XX century in their collections - these works are presented on the open market. In other types of art, for example, in painting and graphics, works of the XX century, not to mention works from earlier times, are already in the leading museum and private collections and are not exhibited on the open market. It is difficult to estimate what is the share of art-photo in the total volume of investment in art in the Russian art market, but I am sure that collecting photography in Russia will gain momentum.
- What makes you so sure of that?
- Because in Russia there are both components of the market - supply and demand. There are masters of art photography working in the country and collectors that are interested in their work.
- What are the price trends in the art-photo market?
- The art photography market is relatively young in relation to other art forms. It began to take shape in the mid-1970s, when author's photos began to appear at prestigious international auctions as full-fledged works of art. The market is rapidly developing and price records are being updated all the time. In May 2022 at Christie's auction a photo of French and American surrealist photographer Man Ray "Engra's Violin", made in 1924, was sold for $12.4 million. This work became not only the most expensive work of the artist, but also the most expensive photo in the history of Christie's. The price of the photo tripled the previous record held since 2011 - it belonged to the work of German photographer Andreas Gursky, which was sold at Christie's for $4.3 million. This sale proved that the author's authentic print can be comparable to works of other types of art not only in artistic value, but also in price.
- What affects the cost of photography?
- The general novelty of the work, the scale of cultural resonance caused by the work, the relevance of the artistic techniques that have been used, the perfection of technical execution, and the author's reputation. From the artistic point of view, the works of pioneering photographers who influenced the development of photography are of the greatest interest.
- What criteria is used to determine a "good" photo worthy of being in a collection?
- Collecting can be done in many different ways. It happens that a collector likes a work very much and he is ready to pay for his pleasure, but it is not certain that he will later be able to sell the work at the purchase price. Moreover, it is not a fact that he will be able to sell it at all. Collectors know that photographic prints fall into three main categories: vintage prints, late prints, and modern prints. From a collector and investment standpoint, vintage prints are the most valuable. These are authentic author's works. Late prints are author's work, but the value is significantly less than vintage prints. A modern print made without the author himself, for example, by his heirs, has practically no museum value, and therefore its price is significantly lower than that of a late print. In photography the edition of the work is of great importance. The more author's prints are claimed, the lower the price of the original vintage.
- How quickly does the investment in photo collecting pay off?
- Generally accepted masterpieces of photography increase in value over time, because their turnover on the open market decreases - more and more images are deposited in large public and private collections. However, even though the profit on such investments is guaranteed, it is not very high: conventionally we can say that such pictures grow in value by a few percent per year. From the point of view of profit is interesting to invest in little-known young talented authors. Here the profit may be higher, but the risk is also high - it is not a fact that the author will become a world celebrity in the future. Thus, the payback period of investments depends on the specific case.
- What is the difference between private and company collecting?
- A serious collection traces the interests of its creator. Such collections are often later transferred to the collections of state museums. Company collections have another peculiarity - organizations that exhibit their treasures, as a rule, pursue PR goals - companies want to attract the attention of the target audience to certain ideas, subjects, events.
- What are the trends in the art photography market that you see in the last five years?
- Recently at international art fairs and auctions, works by graduates and followers of the Düsseldorf School of Photography - Andreas Gursky, Candida Hofer and others - have been of particular interest. It is their works that are mostly breaking price records. Another important trend: works made with the use of AI are gaining more and more attention.
- How is this sector of the art market doing in the wake of the pandemic?
- Collecting always flourishes during periods of economic prosperity. Crises have a negative impact on interest in collecting. After the coronavirus pandemic, the global art market was revitalized. Galleries started working offline again. Auctions specializing in collectible photography began to take place again.
- How have foreign economic sanctions affected the Russian art-photo market?
- The sanctions imposed against Russian entrepreneurs in the West have, strangely enough, revitalized the Russian art market - they have increased the interest of capital owners in the works of Russian artists and photographers.
- What genres of photography are most popular today? What genres do you exhibit and why?
- Collectors are most interested in works that combine the artistic value of the work with its aesthetic appeal. Large-format works often decorate the interiors of spaces, and therefore the spectacularity of the work plays not the least role. At the same time, the genre of the photographic work takes a back seat. In addition to world-class exhibitions of historical photography, the Béton CVC also showcases works by contemporary authors with the characteristics I have mentioned.
- Which Russian photographers are considered the most expensive?
- The world and domestic art markets are most interested in the works of the classics of the Soviet avant-garde of the first half of the XX century, such as Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky and others. In order for the works of contemporary Russian authors to receive attention and be highly appreciated, a lot of work still needs to be done.
- Which Moscow photo collections can be called the most desirable?
- At exhibitions we show works from the Béton collection and willingly use photographs from private collections. However, collectors are often reluctant to give their names; in such cases we indicate at exhibitions that the work came from an anonymous private collection. Therefore, I cannot give the names of collectors.
