俄羅斯成立第一個藝術基金

資料來源：2005年7月12日The Art Newspaper
摘譯：黃亞紀

倫敦報導。烏克蘭的油礦大亨、Vekselberg’s Link of Times藝術基金會的總裁Viktor Vekselberg，已經對外公佈他設立了第一個俄羅斯藝術基金：這個基金將設在瑞士的Thornton Fine Art Investment Fund SA之下、專門投資俄羅斯藝術、最初將以5年為投資單位。

　　Viktor Vekselberg是一位聖彼得堡出身的投資企業家，目前是俄羅斯的第3大首富，身價約61億美金。Viktor Vekselberg雖然拒絕透露此藝術基金的確切運作金額，但是指出上億的資本是必要的，並且信心滿滿的認為其必將獲益。
「在俄羅斯，藝術市場的發展至今為止落後於其他產業，但是現在正式開始成長的時機，並且帶進了更多的投資者參與其中」，Mark Schaffer，在紐約主持A La Vieille Russie的藝術經紀人說，「我相信從現在開始會有更多的俄羅斯藝術基金成立」。

　　同樣的信心也出現在Viktor Vekselberg身上，他相信這個基金機制將會非常活躍；他所創辦的這個基金將會在世界各地的拍賣中、以及向各地的經紀人購買俄羅斯藝術品。Viktor Vekselberg是在2004年開始對藝術市場有興趣，並且成立Vekselberg’s Link of Times藝術基金會，希望將在國際間的俄羅斯藝術品收藏回母國，像是他就將Forbes Faberge Collection中的俄羅斯藝術品以1億美金買回。這些藝術品現在正在歐洲舉行巡迴展。

Artist protests at Saatchi show

From The Times

July 6, 2005

An artist sneaked a painting into the Saatchi Gallery in London to protest against the absence of British artists in a show, The Triumph of Painting: Part Two, that opened yesterday. Stuart Semple, 24, installed his 29in x 29in (74cm x 74cm) canvas, right. A spokesman for Charles Saatchi said: “This is a one-off show in which (Mr Saatchi) focuses on a current favourite of his — German artists. That’s not to say that he is not deeply interested in the British art scene.”

So much for BritArt: Saatchi turns to Germans

By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent
Monday, 4 July 2005

Charles Saatchi has shunned British artists in favour of Germans in a new exhibition of paintings that opens tomorrow at his London gallery.

The show is the second of a trio of exhibitions under the title The Triumph of Painting, which began in the former County Hall building earlier this year.

The advertising millionaire surprised the art world when he set aside the installations and sculptures for which he is best known in favour of works on canvas. "For me, and for people with good eyes who actually enjoy looking at art, nothing is as uplifting as standing before a great painting, whether it was painted in 1505 or last Tuesday," he told The Art Newspaper.

Although not necessarily known to a broad British public, many of the selected artists in part two are, like those in part one, firmly established in their own countries. Thomas Scheibitz, 37, for example, is representing Germany at the Venice Biennale, the long-standing international showcase of contemporary art.

The other artists are Albert Oehlen, 51, Franz Ackermann, 42, Dirk Skreber, 44, and Kai Althoff, 39, plus the Pole Wilhelm Sasnal, 33. Their subjects include the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, natural disasters and accidents.

The exhibition is the first curated by Mr Saatchi since the 1987 New York Now show to exclude British artists - though part one included the Brit Peter Doig and the final instalment, due in November, will exhibit work by Dexter Dalwood.

Mr Saatchi lost nearly 150 works, including Tracey Emin's tent embroidered with the names of everyone she had slept with, in the Momart warehouse fire in May last year.

But this has not deterred the determined art-lover from acquiring new works. He is an assiduous visitor to a vast network of small and up-and-coming galleries, as well as more established art venues.

Has Saatchi, patron of sharks and unmade beds, gone off Brit Art?

From The Times

July 4, 2005

By Sophie Kirkham CHARLES SAATCHI, the champion of modern British artists, has excluded homegrown talent from his new exhibition, which opens today.

The multimillionaire art collector will be displaying works by German and Polish painters in the show — the first time one of his exhibitions has not featured a British artist since 1987.

Mr Saatchi has been a collector and exhibitor of British artists for the past 15 years and is widely regarded as an influential force in the Brit Art movement of the 1990s through his acquisition of controversial works such as Tracey Emin’s unmade bed and Damien Hirst’s sharks in formaldehyde.

But not since his New York Now show at his old North London gallery 18 years ago has he opened the doors to a show that excludes British talent.

In a change of direction early last year he began selling off his more sensational pieces or relegating them to the storage rooms. Then came the fire at the Momart warehouse in the East End of London in May last year, which destroyed 144 works in the collection.

Although devastated by the fire, Mr Saatchi continued to offload many of his old favourites, including £16 million of Hirst, and started buying up about 150 paintings from mainly Europe and America. He also sold Marc Quinn’s Self, a cast of the artist’s head in nine pints of his frozen blood.

Mr Saatchi, 62, has now given his entire gallery over to painting and has reportedly told The Art Newspaper that the Young British Artists, who proved such crowd pleasers a decade ago, may be “nothing but footnotes” in art history. “Nothing is as uplifting as standing before a great painting,” he declared.

The Triumph of Painting series is a showcase of different styles including abstract, figurative, landscape and Pop Art.

The Triumph of Painting: Part 2, which opens at the Saatchi Gallery, in London’s County Hall, concentrates on works by one Polish and five German artists and features natural disasters and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe as some of its themes.

The series began in January this year and will run until May 2007. The first collection to be shown featured one British painter, Peter Doig, and the next will feature the Londoner Dexter Dalwood. In the final part of The Triumph of Painting just three of the nineteen artists are British-born.

A spokeswoman for the Saatchi Gallery said: “This is not making a point about the state of British painting. The show just has a very international feel to it. At this stage it is northern European and these artists were particularly strong together.”