Artificial selection: galleries survived, artists poorer

Quarantine hit not only museums, but also the art market. Sales of many galleries dropped significantly, government support was not particularly effective. But despite the difficulties, almost all commercial art institutions in Russia have gone through a crisis. Unlike the West, where every third gallery is experiencing serious difficulties. However, our artists suffered the most: their works are now sold several times cheaper. Izvestia studied the consequences of the quarantine for business on the beautiful.

Lost or acquired

Most Russian galleries were quarantined at the end of March. And already in April they turned to the government with a request for help. 17 Moscow gallery owners, curators and artists called on the state to exempt private cultural institutions from paying taxes, to grant deferral of utility bills and to develop subsidy programs during the pandemic. Otherwise, the authors of the letter warned, up to 30% of galleries may not open after quarantine.

The authorities did not react in any way to the gallery owners’ appeal, its initiator Georgy Altman, founder and co-owner of Altmans Gallery, told Izvestia. However, the reality turned out to be not as deplorable as it seemed at the beginning of the quarantine: in the second half of July – early July, almost all the capital’s galleries returned to operation. Many of them have new exhibitions. Which, however, does not negate the fact that sales during this period were much lower than usual.

– Since it was impossible to come to the galleries, there were almost no sales. Only point. Western gallery owners talk about a drop of about 70%, we have this figure even more, – complained in an interview with Izvestia, Georgy Altman. – In Europe and the USA, the tradition of serious collecting and investing in art has existed for a long time, in Russia it is more likely from the field of entertainment. And when a crisis comes, people are not up to them.

A different opinion was expressed by Ksenia Podoinitsyna, founder of the analytical agency InArt and the gallery of the same name. According to her, sales remained at the same level, and not only from her, but also from some other galleries, with whom she discussed the results of the quarantine. Someone’s demand even increased due to the inexpensive segment.

– Collectors have reduced or absent their usual monthly expenses, for example, on restaurants and travel, as well as due to circumstances there was a need to improve the home space, including through the purchase of paintings, – noted Ksenia Podoinitsyna.

Poor artist

The founder of the Heritage gallery Kristina Krasnyanskaya also assesses the situation positively and claims that this business has successfully survived the pandemic.

– When everything was closed, I managed to make a number of sales. This is contemporary art and art objects for quite large sums. True, collectors saw the work live even before the quarantine, but the transactions themselves took place online practically without my presence, ”Kristina Krasnyanskaya shared with Izvestia.

At the same time, the gallery owner admits, During this period, the market became a buying one, there was a lot of competition among art dealers for clients, many of them gave good discounts.

The founder of the Fragment gallery, Sergei Gushchin, said that mainly works worth up to € 1,000 were in demand. And the founder of the commercial Art4 Museum Igor Markin notes the trend towards direct sales.

– The ability to sell their works directly is in a sense good for artists, because, albeit beggarly, they are still guaranteed some kind of satisfaction. More precisely, those 100-150 of them that are in the art market. But in general, almost all of them are now in poverty– says Igor Markin.

According to him, due to the fact that prices have fallen several times, some segment of art has left the commercial circulation of galleries altogether.

Barely enough for a salary

In his museum, Igor Markin observes a decrease in demand by 30-50%. At the same time, unlike many other institutions selling art, Art4 has been actively developing online sales for several years now, showing works with prices on its website.

– We barely had enough for a salary, but in principle it is pretty good, I thought it would be worse, – Igor Markin admitted.

At the same time, he did not enjoy state support announced for small and medium-sized businesses. “It’s all funny, I didn’t even try” – the owner of Art4 appreciated the proposed measures.

Sergei Gushchin told Izvestia that he had filed an application with the Moscow Department of Entrepreneurship for compensation for Fragment’s participation in exhibitions, but so far there is no decision on this issue.

Georgy Altman, in turn, took advantage of only tax breaks. He considers the rest of the measures “microscopic”. According to him, agreements between galleries and landlords turned out to be much more effective than state support, many of which met halfway and agreed to adjust payments.

Not a business, but a hobby

In April, the international publication The Art Newspaper, in collaboration with Maastricht University professor and economist Rachel Pownell, conducted a survey among commercial art institutions around the world. Of these, about a third (33.9%) admitted that they do not expect to resume work after the pandemic. In particular, news about the closure of galleries regularly comes from the United States. The whole point is just a lease, says Georgy Altman. In the West, it is customary to lease premises for a long period of time – 3-5 years, and huge fines for the premature termination of the contract.

Industry participants interviewed by Izvestia have different opinions on the willingness of collectors to buy online and the long-term nature of this trend. Some believe that everything will return to normal, others see this as the future of the art business, and the near future. But most agree that In Russia, the gallery business is based primarily on the enthusiasm of the founders, for whom it is not so much a source of income as a hobby. Therefore, even when it turns out to be unprofitable, the galleries are not closed. So the wave of bankruptcies of the domestic art industry is not threatened.