Sale of a collection of paintings by Medvedchuk: art critics urge not to rush

264 paintings are planned for sale, including works by artists of the Transcarpathian school, works by Mikhail Berkos, Sergei Vasilkovsky, Ivan Aivazovsky.

The National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets obtained from corruption and other crimes reports the sale of a collection of paintings by oligarch-collaborator Viktor Medvedchuk.

The art criticism and expert community, as well as social activists, are calling for the sale to be stopped. The reasons are low prices on the antiques market and the devastation of museum collections caused by Russian aggression.

Tyzhden asked Olga Sagaidak, an expert on cultural heritage policy, to tell us the state of the Ukrainian market for antiques and works of art, and also to share her thoughts on how best to organize the distribution between museums of works that are important for the preservation of artistic heritage.

“After the outbreak of the war in 2014, the antiques market and auction business were rapidly declining. About 20 regular auctions that provided public pricing have ceased operation. After a full-scale invasion, auctions are occasionally held, mainly for charities, only 2 organizations,” noted Olga Sagaidak, “War always depreciates the value of art and collectibles. There are those who may not sell and protect their collections, and there are those who are forced to part with works of art in order to survive.

Such sales are not yet publicly available. So there is nothing to rely on in evaluating works now. One can hypothetically imagine that prices for antiques have dropped significantly.”

The expert noted that 264 paintings are planned for the sale, including works by artists of the Transcarpathian school, works by Mikhail Berkos, Sergei Vasilkovsky, Ivan Aivazovsky.

“It is worth noting that in Europe museums have priority rights to purchase works at auction. But the resource for the purchase is provided either by the state, or by public associations that collect funds, or by endowments,” Olga explained. “But the museum fund of Ukraine suffered huge losses due to the destruction of museums and the robbery of collections by Russians in the occupied territories.

Now, as a result of court decisions in cases of traitors and collaborators, some collections are at the disposal of ARMU - the National Agency of Ukraine for the identification, search and management of assets obtained from corruption and other crimes. They, like other property, must be put up for public auction. However, the procedure for works of art is no different from the liquidation of a fleet of cars or expensive modern watches.

It is worth noting that in Europe museums have priority rights to purchase works at auction. But the resource for acquisition is provided either by the state, or by public associations that collect funds, or by endowments. Now in Ukraine, none of these mechanisms will work.

However, some of the works in these collections would enrich the museum fund. For example, the works of artists of the Kharkov school of the early twentieth century. — Vasilkovsky, Berkos, Transcarpathian school of the mid-twentieth century. “Bokshay, Erdeli, Gluck, paintings by Aivazovsky and Pimonenko from Medvedchuk’s collection can at least slightly compensate for the losses.”

Olga Sagaidak noted that it is necessary to create mechanisms that would make it possible to assess the value of works for the museum fund, the physical storage location of such collections, time and professional resources for decision-making.

“I would insist on stopping the procedure for selling the collection, creating a working group of specialists who will provide a transparent decision-making mechanism on distribution to the museum fund. Considering that this is not an isolated case, the Ministry of Culture should use this precedent to prepare the necessary changes to regulations and encourage other government bodies to cooperate,” Olga noted in a conversation with Nedelya.