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Author Topic: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine  (Read 124215 times)

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Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #50 on: March 14, 2011, 11:33:50 PM »
My wife and I export art, hers and other artists. Art and antiques remain today in consideration as among those things which legally belong intellecutually to all the Russian people and not just the property of an individual artist or craftsman. Therefore, as Lily indicated there is paperwork to produce, photos to document each piece, fees paid per export (if it is allowed for export) and procedures to be followed.

My brother is an antique dealer, he sells to malls and stores, and would LOVE to take some things out of the FSU if it were convenient and cost effective.

While anything over 50 years old is generally considered to be antique (that must include me!), the law on antiquities of the Russian Federation is that any item of historical and/or cultural value (including antiques, art works, musical instruments, books etc.) produced more than 100 years ago is prohibited and punishable by law. This excludes prior imported items shown on your customs declaration (if you brought something in then with proof you can take it out again).

Items more than 50 years old but less than 100 years old may (but not in every case) be exported after inspection and approval from the national Ministry of Culture. Art of any age is required to have approval although in many cases a receipt of some nice but obviously not of great importance art can slip thru in a suitcase. I've done it, but one must always remember that if inspected and caught, the Federal Customs Service (Russian Federation) language leaves no room for doubt--failure to declare means that you have certified by your actions that you possess nothing of value and if demonstrated otherwise the penalities can be severe. And in today's anti corruption mood an attempted bribe is a guarantee of a longer jail sentence or fine.

Items which are mandatory for declaration according to the law include:
Art
Antiques
Other cultural valuables (pictures, sculptures, icons, old coins, military decorations and medals, stamps and etc.);
Currency
Weapons/Ammunition
Radio-TV-Satellite-Communications equipment (Even a small shoulder held professional grade video camera coming in costs me 30% of the orginal purchased value over $2000--coming in, and going out if I failed to hold on to the original declaration upon arrival unless traveling on a journalist/diplomatic visa from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

We take Icons (not antique) out for personal use in our USA home and for family but those include a receipt of recent purchase from a church or monastery. Our good friend Sasha from Kiev was prohibited from taking to the USA a old Samovar which he had received from an Uncle.


Here is the procedure for art and antiques:
- You must have a signed receipt from the seller proving your purchase (price, date, name and address of artist, etc)
- 3 colour photos must be made and taken to the Ministry of Culture-export office for each item.
- Customs forms and a form called TD-6 must be filled out in triplicate there for each piece/item.
- The art/antiques along with the photos and forms must be left at the Ministry for professional evaluation (usually takes 1/2 to 1 day)
- Upon approval, tax stamps must be purchased from the Bank of Russia. Usually only one Bank of Russia per city handles those stamps so usually you'll make it a "day trip" for buying the stamps once approval has been granted.

The above is generally, on routine art pieces, at best a 2 day process for 3-6 paintings. Add additional days for additional pieces.

(The goal of this process is to assure that your art, old artifacts such as icons, samovars, rugs, and antiques must have a certificate indicating that they have no historical value. That kind of kills the idea of exporting antiques for resale elsewhere.)


Next comes the Customs process on the day of departure from Russia:
- Arrive at the airport at least 4 hours before your flight.
- You must declare (Red Line) and have your paperwork copies, photos and stamps from the procedures above. This will be in duplicate as the Ministry of Culture office kept one copy of everything which was originally triplicate. Customs will keep one copy and the final is for the customs upon arrival in your country.
- Upon initial inspection a customs inspector will:
   a) Call the resident Customs Art & Antiquities Inspector to the scene (this could take awhile).
   b) Call the Minsitry of Culture office to verify your document copies and photos (could also take awhile).

Hopefully this all can be done in no more than 2 hours because you still must go thru the other processes of checking in, Passport Control, etc. Don't cut it too close on time because they're in no hurry for you to take "national treasures" out of the country.

Once approved you'll proceed to the next steps of check in, etc. Keep all paperwork out because you may be questioned on the contents of your luggage/packages several more times before boarding your plane.


Ministry of Culture:
In most cases the necessary documents can only be obtained in the city where the export will take place. For most Westerners that is either Moscow or St Petersburg.

Moscow
Tel: +7 (495) 629-2008
Малый Гнездниковский пер., (Little Gnezdhikovskiy, 7-6)
д. 7/6, стр. 1,2


St Petersburg
Tel: +7 (812)117-3496/5196/0302,
17 Malaya Morskaya St.

Email from anywhere: info@mkrf.ru


Online AvHdB

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #51 on: June 08, 2011, 03:23:36 PM »
The exhibition of primarily Russian art depicting there Oriental Art held in Groningen should reopen shortly I believe at Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow.

Titled: Russia's Unknown Orient, Orientalist painting 1850-1920.

It shows how Russian as well as Armenian, Georgian and other artists viewed what is now some times called the An's.

If you want to see something different this could be interesting. Interestingly enough one of the foremost artists of the exhibition is V. Vereshchagin whose museum is in Nikolayev. His influence though was especially strongly felt oddly enough in an American artist, W. Homer.
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Offline nicknick

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #52 on: June 08, 2011, 05:55:56 PM »
The exhibition of primarily Russian art depicting there Oriental Art held in Groningen should reopen shortly I believe at Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow.

Titled: Russia's Unknown Orient, Orientalist painting 1850-1920.

It shows how Russian as well as Armenian, Georgian and other artists viewed what is now some times called the An's.

If you want to see something different this could be interesting. Interestingly enough one of the foremost artists of the exhibition is V. Vereshchagin whose museum is in Nikolayev. His influence though was especially strongly felt oddly enough in an American artist, W. Homer.

Seven of Vereshchagin's paintings were auctioned on Monday at Sotheby's.  Boy did they go for a lot of money.  If you've got one of these hidden in the loft then it would be worthwhile digging it out and dusting it off.

Incidentally, there was also a portrait by Repin in the auction, but the top priced Vereshchagin even beat that.

The link to the auctions are here:-

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2011/important-russian-art-l11111/overview.html

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2011/russian-paintings-day-sale-l11112/overview.html

Here are a couple of his paintings on the Oriental theme and one from his time in the Balkans.  You can see all seven paintings in the first link above:-

The Taj Mahal, Evening - sold for £2.2 million

ila_rendered


The Chief Mosque - sold for £370,000

ila_rendered


Fallen Heroes - sold for £190,000

ila_rendered


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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #53 on: June 11, 2011, 12:19:56 AM »
Twice a year in London there are so-called Russian auctions at the three big houses.

I think if I remember correctly the top price was for a Repin of Paris cafe society with Christie's. I did not preview the sales, but in the catalogue it looked to be of stunning quality.

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Offline nicknick

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #54 on: June 11, 2011, 03:34:33 AM »
Twice a year in London there are so-called Russian auctions at the three big houses.

I think if I remember correctly the top price was for a Repin of Paris cafe society with Christie's. I did not preview the sales, but in the catalogue it looked to be of stunning quality.

AvHdB

Just out of interest, why do you say ''so-called'' Russian art auctions?  They also have South Asian art acutions and Chinese art sales etc etc

With the Repin, I was refering to the auction at Sotheby's as that is where the Vereshchagins were being sold and that one sold for something like 1.8 million.


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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #55 on: June 11, 2011, 11:15:23 AM »
Frequently the auction firms add art and antiques to the sale that has a very tenuous connection to Russian. The firms are just trying to make the most money for the lots.

The question is are these lots in fact “Russian”?
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Offline nicknick

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #56 on: June 11, 2011, 04:05:38 PM »
The question is are these lots in fact “Russian”?

Now I understand the point you're making.

Yes, I would agree with you that some Russian artists spent very little, if any, of their working lives actually in Russia, like Chagall, Goncharova, Aivasovsky or Roubaud for example. 

Although, to be fair, most of the artists that do go through the London auction rooms are, I would suggest, ''genuine'' Russian painters.  Such as Repin, Shishkin, Polenov, Pimenov, Laktionov, Bogdanov-Belsky, Levitan, Makovsky, Brodsky and so on and so on.

My comment on this just started as some extra information to your comment about the upcoming exhibition at the Tretyakov including a number of Vereshchagins.

However, on a more general point  that may be of interest to others, what I've always found very interesting about the auctions is that you can go and see all these great paintings for no charge at all.

The paintings at the galleries will be there on display forever and you can go back and see them time after time.  But the paintings that come up for auction will likely never be seen in public again for god knows how many years, so this really is a once in a lifetime chance to see them up close in real life.

I've seen paintings by all the artists I've mentioned above both in galleries in Russia and in Sotheby's in London and it is really interesting to see some of the works of these artists that are being auctioned. 

For example, there was a really large painting by Shishkin called the Dark Wood that was sold last year.  Ok, it didn't have cute baby bears in it like his really famous painting in the Tretyakov but, I would suggest, it really is just as good.

Or take the paintings by Laktionov, Bogdanov-Belsky or Makovsky for example - for the benefit of American readers you might compare them to someone like Norman Rockwell - yes, it's great to see their most famous paintings in a gallery but it is also really interesting to see some of their other work as well at the auctions.

If you're the sort of person that enjoys the odd trip to an art gallery then I would suggest it's well worthwhile also going along to viewings held by auction houses.  Whether your interest is in Russian art, or French Impressionists or Scottish Colourists or Chinese porcelain you can actually see close up some of the very best works of art simply by going along to a viewing at an auction house - at the very least, it makes a change from visiting  the Guggenheim, the Met, Tate Britain or the National Gallery.


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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #57 on: June 13, 2011, 06:51:18 AM »

. . . Whether your interest is in Russian art, or French Impressionists or Scottish Colourists or Chinese porcelain you can actually see close up some of the very best works of art simply by going along to a viewing at an auction house - at the very least, it makes a change from visiting  the Guggenheim, the Met, Tate Britain or the National Gallery.


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Ukraine in Venice ~ Re: Culture and Arts
« Reply #58 on: July 26, 2011, 07:01:09 AM »
While some what removed from the desire of a partner from the former Soviet Union. Ukraine has a prominent place in the Venice Biennale now being held this year until the end of November.

The artist Oksana Mas born near Odessa in 1969 presents at the Ukraine Pavilion vision of the Ghent Altarpiece of the van Eyck brothers a work titled POST vs PROTO RENAINSSANCE. It is in fact a mosaic reconstruction or recreation using the traditional Easter eggs of Ukraine. A couple million of the eggs painted and decorated by people from all around the world and from every walk of life.

The symbolism of the Easter eggs and the actual Altarpiece from more than 500 years make an interesting comparison and analogy of the time we live in the actual artwork.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

Offline mendeleyev

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #59 on: July 26, 2011, 05:04:19 PM »
Sounds very interesting. Do you know of any links?

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #60 on: July 27, 2011, 01:40:24 AM »
Website of Oksana >  http://www.mas-art.com/  <

Website of the Biennale  >  http://www.labiennale.org/en/Home.html   <
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Offline nicknick

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Last chance to see
« Reply #61 on: October 08, 2011, 08:37:34 AM »

However, on a more general point  that may be of interest to others, what I've always found very interesting about the auctions is that you can go and see all these great paintings for no charge at all.

The paintings at the galleries will be there on display forever and you can go back and see them time after time.  But the paintings that come up for auction will likely never be seen in public again for god knows how many years, so this really is a once in a lifetime chance to see them up close in real life.

...

If you're the sort of person that enjoys the odd trip to an art gallery then I would suggest it's well worthwhile also going along to viewings held by auction houses.  Whether your interest is in Russian art, or French Impressionists or Scottish Colourists or Chinese porcelain you can actually see close up some of the very best works of art simply by going along to a viewing at an auction house - at the very least, it makes a change from visiting  the Guggenheim, the Met, Tate Britain or the National Gallery.

Just picking up on a thread from earlier this year.

For people interested in seeing some Russian art and live near enough to New York there is an auction coming up on 1st November with viewing before that.

Two of the highlights of the auction are, I would suggest, a painting by Vereshchagin from his travels in India:-

ila_rendered

He sold the painting to an American collector in 1891 who then donated it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts the following year.  So, unless another gallery buys it this is probably your last chance to see it.

The painting was purchased for $2,100 and the estimate now is $3 to 5 million - not a bad return on the investment I guess.

The other painting is one by Shishkin that he painted in Crimea in 1879:-

ila_rendered

The last time this painting was seen in public was at a short exhibition in Australia in 2008.  So, if you do want to see it in real life any time soon, this will probably be the last chance for a long time.

A link to details about the exhibition is here:-

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2011/important-russian-art/overview.html

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #63 on: August 06, 2016, 09:25:49 AM »
Art 101 for Russian speakers:

ila_rendered
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Offline yankee

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #64 on: August 06, 2016, 06:09:59 PM »
Art 101 for Russian speakers:

(Attachment Link)

This is a good example to learn about styles in contemporary art.
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Offline Larissa 2

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #65 on: August 23, 2016, 08:22:55 AM »
Pictures of Paul Rizhenko.Battle of the Neva.
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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #66 on: August 23, 2016, 08:33:23 AM »
Pictures of Paul Rizhenko. Battle of Kulikovo.
People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
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Offline Gipsy

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #67 on: August 23, 2016, 08:40:46 AM »
Larissa  :thumbsup:
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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #68 on: September 27, 2016, 02:04:08 AM »
In contemporary art there is the Englishman Damien Hirst who runs a very large studio with numerous assistants working where examples of his art are ‘painted or manufactured’ depending on your perspective. But in the 17th century there was the prototype artist of this style of production, Peter Paul Rubens (1577 ~ 1640). It should be noted that while the northern half of Europe was moving towards a Protestant belief. Rubens himself was remained quite Catholic. A large studio where his paintings were created was located in Antwerp and he had a number of talented artists working for him to create many religous and historical paintings. He also undertook at the time a number of diplomatic missions in Spain, Italy and France.

There is an expression referring to Rubensesque figure. Today some would say fat, but in the 17th century this was considered both healthy and beautiful. Paintings by Rubens can be found in every major museum around the world. For those who need to understand things in numbers, a work of art painted more or less entirely by Rubens can make tens of millions of €, $ or £ with relative ease at auction or in a gallery.

Painted in 1610 or so Catherine the Great of Russia gave a painting to Alexander Nevsky Lavra (Monastery) in St. Petersburg, titled the Resurrection of Christ. As the Soviets came to power this overtly Christian painting was removed from view. With centuries of varnish hiding the original paint and detail it was resigned to storage as a copy from the studio of Rubens. For the good order we are speaking of a painting larger than 15 feet in height and some 9 feet in width. About five years ago some in the Hermitage again studied the painting and decided to look closer at it. A cleaning and restoration revealed this was in fact the real McCoy ok Rubens and now fully cleaned and restored hangs in the Hermitage.

I should note that this is not a discovery but rather a realization. It was always a Rubens the art experts just did not see it. 
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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #69 on: May 31, 2017, 02:53:53 AM »
http://theartnewspaper.com/news/museums/russia-s-regional-collections-get-left-out-in-the-cold/

There are stories from other sources that point to the same neglect in Russia.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

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“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #71 on: February 14, 2018, 05:35:20 PM »
While a moderator may wish to move this post to another thread this seems to be as good as any place to post it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/magazine/a-literary-road-trip-into-the-heart-of-russia.html

On a number of levels this is an amazing article. It is a long read and an understanding of Slavic literature is helpful. But the article not only in the breadth and background but also the change in perspective and realization of the writer Kierkegaard, as he sees Russian and realises the reality. Some where else there is a thread of Travels in Siberia that I think I started again in this case it was an American in Russia who came to a parallel understanding. In both cases a writer that realises that many of the assumptions of prejudices that are shown on an unfortunate regular basis and I will note ON A BROAD SPECTRUM OF RUA POSTERS are shown to be faulty.

Myself included rarely understand the Slavic psyche. Through our travels or our partners we see a glimpse.

“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #72 on: February 15, 2018, 05:55:55 AM »
of the writer Kierkegaard

A correction the author is not S. Kierkegaard, not withstanding the opinion of my laptop, it is in fact K. O. Knausgaard.
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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #73 on: August 06, 2018, 11:45:54 AM »
One thing is very good though - such pre-turbulence times produce a lot of interesting art forms here, I enjoy the paintings by the artist Kopeikin a lot, for instance.

The quote above prompted me to wake this thread up.

On the subject of Russian art, or in this case Soviet art, I encountered this recently that spoke to me (as art must). I wouldn't mind a nice print of that if anyone knows where to get one.



I have several Andrei Protsouk pictures at home that are in a not dissimilar style.

Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

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Re: Culture and Arts in Russia & Ukraine
« Reply #74 on: August 06, 2018, 07:08:46 PM »
Andrei P. has an exhibition currently in San Diego and his own web site.

His work does not appear on AskArt or ArtNet. His work has not been offered by any of the major auction firms. If one enjoys it no harm.
“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” T.S. Eliot