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Art and Oligarchs

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A popular trend among Russian oligarchs is to purchase works of art. Why? It's a way to get into the Kremlin's good graces, to gild their image...and to cover up the origin of their fortunes, often acquired in the shadow of post-Soviet power.
Following a group of newly-minted collectors as they attempt to follow in the steps of well-known collectors of the early 20th-century, Tania Rakhmanov's powerful documentary ART AND OLIGARCHS depicts a Russia where art, easy money, and an authoritarian state co-exist.
Citation
Main credits
Rakhmanova, Tania (film director)
Haziza, Laurence (narrator)
Other credits
Caméra, Georgy Porotov; montage, Paul Morris; musique, Rachmaninov [and 3 others].
Distributor subjects
Art; Business and Economics; Cultural Studies; Eastern Europe; Russia; Streaming onlyKeywords
WEBVTT
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[music] Today, Moscow is the European City with the
largest number of millionaires and billionaires.
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.999
They’ve all made their fortunes
since the collapse of the USSR,
00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.999
and most of them thanks to
favors from the Kremlin.
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In less than 15 years, they’ve taken over
whole sectors of the Russian economy.
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They are the Oligarchs. Every year they
earn hundreds of millions of dollars
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and spend them just as fast. You see them
buying houses in London and New York,
00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.999
private jets or luxury cars.
But the latest fad
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amongst these nouveau riche
is fine art, the very finest,
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a nutrient that comes with the
blessing of Russian power.
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:09.999
[music]
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When you’re really wealthy and you’ve
made it or want people to think you have,
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you must show an interest in painting. You must be
seen at openings and above all, you must buy art.
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The financial crisis
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and Russia’s own economic problems don’t seem to
have affected this closed world of art lovers.
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.000
[sil.]
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These new collectors with
their limitless buying power
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and moving West to London for instance.
On November 30th, 2009,
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
there was a rare sale of personal
effects of the Russian imperial family.
00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
Hundreds of collectors
took part in the sale,
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in the auction room itself or by
telephone, fighting other relics
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of Czarist history have ever trifling.
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The bidding for this Fabergé snuff box
made for the last Tsar started at €60,000.
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The price went up by the second.
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[sil.]
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Within less than a minute,
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the price of that little box shot
up to over half a million euros.
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Ten years ago in this business,
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nobody saw this boom coming. If they had,
even the most, you know, talented dealers
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uh… who can spot a dealer a mile ago would
have been putting… putting to get buying
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(inaudible) by the truck load, you know.
I mean, the…
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the prices have gone tenfold in the last 10 years. I think it’s
outstripped the oil market and it has been one of the fastest moving,
00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:54.999
growing markets that we’ve seen.
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Russians will clearly stop at nothing
to reclaim their national heritage.
00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.999
The one of sale of the Rostropovich collection
is another example of this new craze.
00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.999
The sale of the 450 items that had once
belonged to the Great Russian cellist
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.999
was announced as the
highlight of the season.
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To everyone’s surprise, a few hours
before the event was scheduled,
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Sotheby’s called a press conference. Before an
astonished audience, the seller Rostropovich’s widow
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declared the auction cancelled. She had
just sold off her entire collection
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to most a mysterious
Oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
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It’s very unusual situation
uh… where, you know, to…
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to have a collection like that withdrawn from
sale literally 24-48 hours before the auction
00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.999
and so it… it… it was something that I
didn’t think anyone was prepared for.
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In the whole history of Sotheby’s, it was
the first time a sale had been cancelled.
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The surprise was all the greater because Alisher Usmanov,
an Uzbek billionaire and friend of Vladimir Putin,
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had never expressed any particular interest in
art. The few paintings decorating his office
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reveal all you need to know
about his taste in art.
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Ten days later,
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Usmanov gave away the reason for his sudden passion for art.
He bought the collection to offer it to the Russian State
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to be exhibited in a palace in St.
Petersburg. Perhaps, it’s no coincidence
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that it’s the same palace chosen by
Vladimir Putin for his official receptions.
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It’s also clear that Usmanov paid to get
into the good books of the Kremlin.
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The price he paid for the collection remains
undisclosed. It’s rumored to have been over $70 million,
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another little present for the Kremlin.
Before that,
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Russia’s richest banker donated a million dollars to buy
Malevich’s Black Square for the (inaudible) collections.
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And oil tycoon Viktor Vekselberg bought
a whole collection of Fabergé egg
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to be exhibited in Russia.
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Marat Gelman has an insider’s
knowledge of the system.
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He’s one of Moscow’s most prominent gallery owners. And he also
has another role, a spin doctor to Russia’s political leaders.
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Russia is among the most corrupt countries in the
world, and every businessman understands the message.
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If he refuses, his next contract will not be signed
or he may find himself charged with tax fraud.
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If Russians will do anything to
buy the favors of the government,
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Western art dealers will
do anything to attract
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these buyers with bottomless pockets.
In 2008,
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the Russian market alone counted
for 40% of Sotheby’s turnover.
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Natalia Kurnikova is one of
these Russian art buyers.
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She hasn’t missed a
single sale in 15 years.
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If you look at particularly
the early 20th century,
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the Russian avant-garde, Russian modernism, that
was always very collectible. We had sales over
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20 years ago where our Western collectors
based in the states, based in Europe,
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would collect Russian names alongside
and Picasso, alongside Matisse.
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Umm… Nowadays the Russians will bid out bid them,
so even though there are very good strong pieces,
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Russian modernist artists, they’re not going into Western collections, they’re
going into Russian collections because the Russians simply will pay more.
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Natalia Kurnikova has
made a successful bid.
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She’s bought a picture by an avant-garde
Russian painter at her target price €150,000.
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
Since she acquired her first painting
at the beginning of the 1990s,
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she’s made a name for herself as a modern
art dealer and built a large collection.
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And to showcase her works, she’s had her own
gallery built in (inaudible) suburb of Moscow.
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Natalia bought her first
paintings to decorate her home.
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She is typical with the new art collectors. In
order to make informed decisions and good deals,
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they started to hang around
auction halls and galleries,
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and they were enthralled by the world they
discovered. Today, they own hundreds of works of art
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and only too happy to display them to the public.
In Natalia’s gallery, nothing is for sale.
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Everything is there to
be shown or shown off.
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A few months ago, Natalia mounted
a very special exhibition
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:25.000
devoted to one particular
piece in her collection.
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It’s a work by Vladimir Putin.
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In January 2009, Vladimir Putin tried his
hand at painting for the very first time.
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What a surprise! Since Russia’s Prime
Minister had shown no previous interest
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
in the arts except the martial arts.
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
His painting was auctioned at a charity sale to fund hospitals.
The starting price was set at a few hundred dollars.
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Within 15 minutes, the bids
have sold to a million dollars.
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:20.000
And it’s Natalia who bought the piece.
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This painting will retain its charm and its
value as long as Vladimir Putin stays in power.
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
But why would the nation’s leader who until
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then to chosen to basis image on his
sporting prowess suddenly decide
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
to associate his name with the art market.
Simply because nowadays in Russia
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
everything that touches on art, generates
a remarkable frenzy. And this new fashion
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
says a lot about the new business elite
and the true nature of power in Russia.
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
[sil.]
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
There are countless reasons to start buying works of art.
Some collect as an investment to show off their wealth.
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
Others collect Russian art to
buy themselves a patriotic past
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or to reconnect with the
(inaudible) of eternal Russia.
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
They buy works of art to redeem their image
or to win the favors of the government.
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
But whatever the reason, very soon
most of the new collectors are taken
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over by this consuming passion.
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
Every Russian collector sees himself
as an heir to this great tradition
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
and looks back nostalgically to its heyday
at the beginning of the 20th century.
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
A hundred years ago just like today, all the
money in the country flew towards Moscow,
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
the economic center of the empire.
In a few years,
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
former peasants and shopkeepers
amassed immense fortunes.
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
They settled in mansions and started
to buy paintings to adorn their walls.
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
Several of these upstarts accumulated
immense collections long before bonds,
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
Guggenheim or other American collectors.
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In Russia, their names were
(inaudible) or Shchukin.
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
[music]
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
Natalia Simeonova has
spent 30 years uncovering
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:05.000
the strange fate of the
Shchukin Collection.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
Around that time, Shchukin became the biggest
textile merchant in the whole of Russia.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
He traded with the entire planet.
He was wealthy.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:05.000
And at the age of 40, he fell in love at
first sight with the French Impressionist.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Today, two-thirds of the
works bought by Shchukin
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
can be found in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg,
the largest art museum in the country.
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
This great art lover had to flee
Russia after the revolution,
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
leaving his whole collection behind. At the time,
it was the best modern art collection in the world.
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
[sil.]
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
Andre-Marc, Shchukin’s French grandson
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
was the first descended to rediscover the
treasures assembled by his grandfather.
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
He tells the story of his grandfather and
his art collection in the museum galleries
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:05.000
that the Hermitage has given a
special permission to film in.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
Shchukin put together a fantastic collection
works by Gauguin, Suzanne, Monet, Van Gogh,
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
(inaudible) Picasso, and Matisse. He created
the first modern art museum in the world.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
Sergei Shchukin opened his collections
to the public. You could just phone
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
and make an appointment, and the owner
himself would show you his treasures.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:35.000
The entire 20th century Russian avant-garde
drew inspiration from these rooms.
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
Shalva Breus is a millionaire
just like Sergei Shchukin.
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:10.000
He owns a paper conglomerate
as well as a financial group.
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
Not everyone has a Chagall in children’s bedroom.
Shalva Breus is one of those Russian businessmen
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
who after making a fortune in the new economy has spend
without limit to satisfy his new consuming passion.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000
Shalva remains type dipped about his business,
but he’s unstoppable about his collection.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
But this fantastic collection is not enough
for Shalva Breus. He has set himself
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
the mission of educating future generations of
Russians in contemporary art just as Shchukin
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
did in his time. That’s why he
bought an art view, Art Chronika
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:40.000
and created the Kandinsky Prize, awarded
every year to the best Russian artists.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.000
[music]
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
[music]
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
In this new Russia where easy money
co-exists with nostalgia for Soviet values,
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
many people are vary of Oligarchs. They’re
accused of plundering the country.
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
So the nouveau riche have to find
ways of cleaning up their image.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
Of course, you could donate money
to an orphanage or a hospital,
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
but there’s a more pleasant and more
efficient alternative, associate your name
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
with the artistic education of the people.
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
In 2008, Roman Abramovich
decided to play this card.
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:54.999
A personal friend of Yeltsin and Putin, the owner of
Chelsea Football Club and the wealthiest man in Russia,
00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:00.000
he financed the first Centre for
Contemporary Art in Moscow.
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Abramovich prefers to remain in the background. He
gave this first private center for Contemporary Art
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
to his companion Daria Zhukova,
who at 25 is now the owner
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
of the largest exhibition venue in Russia.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
She’s a good example of an oligarch kent, the
daughters, mistresses or wives of oligarchs,
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
who now manage the world of art in Russia.
For Daria who grew up
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
in the United States and speaks English better than
Russian, it’s a spectacular return to her Homeland.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
I hope to initiate many
projects of Russian artists
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
and open to create a platform for
Russian artists to go abroad
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
and just keep up promoting contemporary
art. Historically Russia has always been
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
a big patron of the arts, so I
think that uh… perhaps there’s now
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
a higher interest in Russia and
a bit more attention on Russia,
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
so people are starting to recognize Russia as a
player in the art (inaudible) might as well.
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
It’s a master stroke for Roman Abramovich,
accusations of earning billions
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
in a shadowy relationship with the Kremlin and
funneling his money abroad has swept aside.
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
He can now appear as a generous
selfless patron of the arts.
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
[music]
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
And of course it’s the garage that Russian government
selected to host The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
The works exhibited was selected
by (inaudible) former director of
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
the Beaubourg Museum in Paris.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
Many world famous artists have agreed to
come. Are they hoping to find buyers?
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
It’s possible to change the place.
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
This one, here. This one…
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
Lots of things are happening
in Moscow these days.
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
It’s become the center of Europe, in a way.
A small world center.
00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
It’s a big change from our Western
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
Paris-London-Berlin-Milan context.
00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
It’s something else. Obviously…
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
the fact that there are so
many collectors in Russia
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
is a strong point for the country.
Because we know we present exhibits
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
to a well-informed
audience that’s interested
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
in contemporary art.
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
[sil.]
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
Collectors and patrons are all here.
Transactions are carried out
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
to sweetly behind the scenes.
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
Shalva Breus witness the deal making during
his first visit with the few collected frames
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
before the official opening at the VNR.
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Let me tell you a secret. After our visit
yesterday, Julius Popp’s water jetty
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
will remain in Moscow.
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
It’s an interesting work that
will stay in Russia. It was sold.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
It says one person in Russia
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
who’s likely to buy, it’s Stella Kesaeva
owner of the Stella Art Foundation
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
and wife of Russia’s
biggest tobacco importer.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
[sil.]
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
Stella was the first oligarch (inaudible)
of the arts. She launched the fashion
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
in 2003 when she created her foundation
supporting contemporary art in Russia.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
At the time, everyone thought she
was crazy, now she is a role model.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
[sil.]
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.000
[non-English narration]
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
Stella knows most of the artists on show.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
Some are already in her
collections next to (inaudible).
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
But what interests her most is Russian
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:48.000
conceptual art and its stake on society.
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
Stella decided that her great mission would be to help
people discover contemporary art just as Sergei Shchukin
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
had done with the Impressionists. However, she is
trying to win recognition for Russian art in the West.
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
In (inaudible) Stella financed her own pavilion
next to the Official Russian Pavilion.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
For the opening ceremony (inaudible)
Russia’s most famous conductor
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
brought his orchestra from St. Petersburg.
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
[music]
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
So we came together to this orchestra here from
St. Petersburg in the middle of our (inaudible)
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
Stella, thank you for bring us here.
And especially
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
thank you for bringing
so much art (inaudible).
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
All of Stella’s projects are
financed by her husband,
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
Igor Kesaev an oligarch who is said
to be close to the secret services
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
and who controls a large part of the tobacco and
liquor business in Russia. His wife’s activities
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:50.000
allow him to present himself as an art lover
and gloss over the origins of his fortune.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
In 1910, two years after
their first meeting
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
Sergei Shchukin commissioned his favorite
artist to create two large panels
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
for the grand staircase of his Moscow home.
For his Russian patron
00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:00.000
Henri Matisse painted two works that would
become landmarks in the history of art.
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
Many collector\'s dream of immortality
as the patron of a Matisse or Picasso.
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
Will these collectors be recognized as
protectors of the geniuses of the 21st century?
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
Stella would like to believe so.
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
She has open two galleries in
Moscow showing Russian artists
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
that she\'s trying to turn into international
celebrities. To support their projects
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
however outlandish Stella even agrees to
leave her home and travelled to Russia.
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
Because you may love Russian
artists and still prefer
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
to live in the West. Stella\'s husband
has chosen to base his family in Monaco
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
where the climate and the tax laws gentler.
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:33.000
[non-English narration]
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
Stella has succeeded in launching the
careers of several Russian artists.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
But foremost among them are Igor
Makarevich and his wife Elena.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
In Soviet times their works were known
only to a handful of intellectuals.
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
They were very different from the
prevailing socialist realist style.
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:30.000
Stella has been sponsoring
them for five years.
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
But why should the state invest
when there were oligarchs to do it.
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
In 2009, Stella exhibited her
prodigies not at an art fair
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
but in a museum in Vienna alongside one
of the world\'s greatest collections
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:25.000
of Renaissance art.
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
Why would the Russian State want to
nationalize Stella\'s collections.
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
Here to Shchukin story gives an indication.
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
In 1917, the October Revolution overthrew
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
the Tsar and abolished private property.
Lenin, then signed the decree
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
nationalizing Shchukin\'s and Tsar
collection naturally without compensation.
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
It was to be housed in a new museum
for the education of the people.
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
When at the end of the 1940s,
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
Stalin\'s USSR entered the Cold War,
the Shchukin collection once again
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
paid a price. One of the government\'s first
campaigns was against Western influences.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Stalin decreed that this collection a
decadent, cosmopolitan, impressionist art,
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
must disappear.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
It was split arbitrarily between the
two largest museums in the country,
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
the (inaudible) in Leningrad and the Pushkin
Museum in Moscow. The paintings disappeared
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:08.000
into the reserves of the museums. The collection cease to exist
and the name of its owner was struck out of history. [sil.]
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
For 30 years, generations
of Russians grew up
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
without knowing dance and music by
Matisse or masterpieces by Picasso,
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:35.000
Van Gogh and Matisse.
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
[music]
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
Even today, there is no collection in the eyes of
the Russian authorities. Only a series of works
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
belonging to the national heritage. Sergei
Shchukin name has no particular cache.
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
That\'s unacceptable say his
modern successes like Shchukin,
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
they\'ve accumulated remarkable
works and hope to see their names
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
go down in history.
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:13.000
The government ignores the issue
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
even when pressed by Petr Aven
the former minister. Now running
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:35.000
the country\'s largest private bank.
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
Although he\'s a billionaire, he doesn\'t buy
galleries for his wife or support artists.
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:55.000
He collects in a rather more classic
way, as a Western collector (inaudible).
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
Petr Aven has the largest private
collection of Russian art in the World.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
He\'d like to exhibit his treasures and win the public\'s
gratitude like say, Peggy Guggenheim or J. Paul Getty.
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
But Russia doesn\'t play by the same rules.
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:53.000
In Russia,
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
everyone knows that whatever your
status or fortune, you can lose it all,
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
which is another reason to collect
and spend your money liberally.
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
Today, the children of the
Oligarchs are entering the market.
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
People like 24-year-old Maria Baibakova.
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
[sil.]
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:43.000
Maria studied in the United States.
On her returned to Russia,
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:50.000
her father offered her a little
present, an art gallery.
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:40.000
[sil.]
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
Baibakova Art Project another Russian style
gallery. A gallery where nothing is sold,
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
where art is promoted by inviting the
most expensive artists like Luc Tuymans,
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:05.000
the fashionable Belgian painter.
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
In order to prove that it\'s genuine art,
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:55.000
some veterans of the Russian
art scene have been invited.
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
Tusovka, the highlife of the post-Soviet
(inaudible) has taken over the city.
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
The in crowd moves from one society of an end
to another, exclusive party to private sale,
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
in a series of invitation only openings.
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
A hundred years ago, Henri Matisse spend three weeks in
Moscow at the invitation of his collector Sergei Shchukin.
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
Matisse wrote to his friend\'s
life is so (inaudible) in Moscow,
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
there\'s partying through the night
to till morning. This is the life,
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
the grand life. What\'s more
the city has character.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
Many things have changed
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
since Matisse, political
regimes, borders, ideologies.
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
But what\'s happening in the field of art shows
that whether under gilded icons or red stars,
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
the true nature of Russian society
has hardly changed. These are
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:30.000
very elaborate source of (inaudible).
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 52 minutes
Date: 2010
Genre: Expository
Language: English; Russian / English subtitles
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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