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Issues of 2008
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Better less but better
We have interviewed the director of the St. Petersburg antiquarian salon “The Russian Seasons”. Our conversation was dedicated to the Russian classic painting. Victor Petrovich Lebedev, the renowned St. Petersburg expert in Russian classic art, shared his experience in estimation of important art pieces with correspondents of “Antiq.Info” magazine. — Victor, what happens today in the Russian antiquarian market? What tendencies disturb you? — The Russian antiquarian market is rather young. Under influence of external circumstances it has formed too promptly: a lot of money have concentrated in close space, there entered a group of people that could purchase the artworks. The pressure of free money haven’t form the quality market, some tendencies have initially been set incorrectly. Let’s have agree: we don’t talk about those who buy the museum pieces at the high price. Between the Russian amateurs of artworks the circle of serious collectors has been formed (including P. Aven, B. Fedotov). Their collections can be named good. But they look more like happy exceptions, than a rule. The western market isn’t homogeneous too. There are people who make the collection fast but for the others it’s a hereditary business. The last ones know this good and they need help of an expert in difficult cases. — And what about us? — The intensive formation of Russian antiquarian market has filled the market with low quality pieces. Usually, collectors don’t understand the real value of what they need and the gallerists formed the fashion. If the dealer or gallerist poorly understands a subject and if he can’t or doesn’t wish to improve his professional level he’s capable to become only an intermediary. This “gallerist” always needs help of an expert. The fact highly increases the price of mediocre pieces. — What people are experts of the antiquarian market? — Unfortunately, there are only the staff of the State institutions. Basically there are workers of the State Tretyakov gallery and the Grabar Restoration Scientific Centre, and also the state Russian museum. — Let’s talk more in detail about the features of museum examination. — The museum examination was actually allocated in the special business and began to live under the laws of business, developing the direction of activity where the maximal profit is combined with a minimum of the responsibility. Expert opinions have turned to the goods, but a subject of sale often aren’t knowledge and experience of the scientific employee but a place in the museum hierarchy. The presence of references and certificates sharply increases the market cost of similar things. So the negative tendencies of the market are formed. In some countries the museum examination is illegal. But in Russia we can see other position. At the beginning of perestroyka the museums have started the examinations. I see the reason of that in a habit of the Soviet people to trust the official documents, different stamps and references. As the antiquarian market was half¬underground the institute of private experts then couldn’t be formed. A number of problems appear. First of all, the high level and the status of a museum doesn’t always correspond to the qualification of the expert working there, but the form and the stamp of the solid establishment reliably protect both the employee, and the dealer addressed to them with examination. Secondly, all the conclusions subscribe several employees at the same time: in this case the personal responsibility of everyone is “vanished”, graded, and there comes a collective irresponsibility. Thirdly, art examination frequently doesn’t give the full analysis of the painting, the whole picture of the held research. Museum employees possess access to material which gives necessary large base for comparison during the examination. But why the monopoly is fixed only to large capital establishments of culture? The materials of provincial Russian museums and galleries are almost absent at the market though we know that experienced professionals, good experts work there. It would be logical for dealers to address for consultation to the Feodosia gallery to get some information about I. Ayvazovsky’s works of the period after 1890, to the Kazan art museum when a subject of the deal is N. Feshin’s works, to the memorial museum of V. Polenov to answer the questions concerning the works of the artist, instead of going to capital museums. One more important point: the equipment available in large museums and centres of science often secure a careless expert. Actually, art historical examination is substituted for result of physical¬technological examination. As a result, the customer gets the conclusion with the data of radiological or infra¬red research which actually can include little information. (such happens, for example, if the picture which during work was not exposed to alterations) is investigated or at all is not necessary. Especially with it the conclusions of the Grabar Restoration Scientific Centre. It is engaged in the examination without having their own collection of artworks. Many questions and practice of a lack of distribution of negative examinations cause: some establishments don’t give the negative conclusions, but create illusion of qualitative work of experts. It would be desirable to look at results of their work in case of both negative, and positive examinations. — To your mind, museums should not be engaged in the examination? — Why not, they should be engaged in examination of pieces of the serious level both on quality and their price at the market. They must receive for it not fixed money, but high enough payment depending on complexity of a subject that would allow to refuse researches and an art estimation of subjects of non¬museum level. — How, from your point of view, it is possible to optimize the process of examination nowadays? It is necessary to divide art criticism and technological examination. It is impossible to substitute data of actually art criticism analysis for the results of tool researches. It is necessary to remember that technological examination is always an additional, auxiliary method. The subject should pass through one or if necessary some stages of examination depending on complexity of the work. But it should be consecutive! — Could you explain our readers the procedure of technological examination? — There are two separate directions : physical¬technological and chemical¬technological expertise. When it is a question of physical¬technological examination, it is necessary to understand that its first stage is equally accessible both to the researcher and the antique dealers. At the first stage such moments, as the analysis of shelling, examination and estimation of quality and condition of a canvas and a underframe that is information that can be got at visual examination. The second part of the examination is connected with the usage of powerful microscopes, X¬rays, ultra¬violet and infra¬red radiation, therefore this part of research is accessible only to experts and institutions where there are necessary devices for work. Chemical¬technological examination (including chemical analyses of structures and pigments) is held only by experts in laboratory conditions and demands deep special knowledge. Both these directions operate with scientific concepts, contain a maximum of the objective information. The description of results should be detailed. When technological examination is necessary, everyone should understand, that this part of work also should be extra paid. — Let’s return to art historical expertise. — In distinction from technological expertise, art historical examination is very subjective, as it depends on the personality of the expert, his experience,knowledge, his decency. The information that the expert finally gives to the customer is a text page combining art historical and technological expertise together with biographical data. The text of the conclusion should be scientific, informatory, and argued. — How do you see the solution of the problem? — One mustn’t strive for momentary enrichment and certificate the pieces that shouldn’t be certificated by their characteristics. At the advanced antiquarian market the circulation of such pieces is based not by the expert estimation but by the qualification and the knowledge of dealers and authority of gallerists. Working with museum pieces, the limits of professional competence must be settled clearly to use with the maximal result the knowledge and experience of a specialist. I’d like to recommend both for museums and private experts: specialise not the number of customers but the range of pieces your work is connected with. As for dealers and gallerists, they should perfect their professional skills and be responsible to the customer. At the concrete period of the development of the antiquarian market it is necessary to give a simple idea: museum expertise isn’t necessary for the large number of pieces of non¬museum level circulating at the market. Meanwhile, the absence or the presence of certificates shouldn’t influence the pricing. The institute of curators of collections should be included into the practice when a specialist ( not always a museum specialist) invited by a customer helps to form a private collection and is responsible for it as a professional. All the other aspects will be formed by the market that is a self¬regulating system.
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