Interest in the old masters is declining. Will they be able to become popular again?

Old masters, but new rules of the game: over the past few weeks, two experts on the work of old masters left Christie’s auction house at once. This was due to the fact that sales in this segment of the market fell immediately by 33 percent, as evidenced by the 2016 TEFAF Art Market report.

First aid for getting acquainted with contemporary art…
Illustration: Miroslav Bartak

While contemporary art is at the peak of popularity among collectors, spectators and philanthropists, more and more experts doubt that the art of old masters will remain relevant for auction houses, galleries and museums for a long time. The global economic crisis also left its mark, in the context of which auctions began to pay more attention to the profitable side of business - contemporary art.

“Everyone wants to be associated with new, contemporary art,” said Edward Dolman, chairman and chief executive officer of the Phillips auction house, who spent most of his life in Christie’s old masters department and now focuses on contemporary authors. “We have no intention of selling the works of old masters and artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, because these markets are becoming increasingly depleted,” he added. “New customers of auction houses are moving farther away from honoring the past.”

The limited number of paintings, the weakening of public attention, the reduction in the number of specialists in the work of old masters are partially responsible for the shift of emphasis in the art market. Guy Sainty, a London-based dealer who has specialized in old craftsmen for a long time, says he is puzzled and upset. “I have been an art dealer for almost 40 years, and I just don’t understand where the collectors who are versed in old art have gone. It feels like the Americans just lost interest in European culture. ”

Post-Renaissance European artists fall into the category of old masters, including da Vinci, Raphael, Goya and El Greco, who were known for their high degree of detail, realistic paintings and drawings, as well as Dutch masters led by Jan Brueghel the Elder. Interest in their work in society is still preserved. The exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art “Vigé Lebrun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France” (Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France), for example, was visited by more than 165,000 people. Getty and Frick museums, which are oriented on historical works, also retain high attendance.

Demand for old masterpieces at auctions is also quite high, as evidenced by 58 million US dollars paid in July for Peter Paul Rubens’s painting “Lot and His Daughters” at Christie’s auction in London. The painting became the second most expensive of all the works of this artist sold at auction. But masterpieces appear less and less, private owners and museums, as a rule, hold on to them, which creates big problems with the supply of work for bidding.

In addition to all economic factors, the socio-cultural aspect also plays a negative role. Understanding the work of old masters, according to experts, requires a deeper education. Christie’s, for example, has trained its old masters for six to seven years, while becoming an expert in contemporary art can take three to four years. For this reason, young collectors, as a rule, find contemporary art more accessible.

“People who buy an old master’s painting have more understanding, maybe more passion,” said Christophe Van de Weghe, a dealer with Madison Avenue specializing in contemporary artists, from Matisse to Basquiat.

Some attribute the growing interest in contemporary art to the growing popularity of contemporary architecture and design. “A lot of people just want the paintings in their houses to be combined in color with the couches,” adds van de Weich. “All of these new buildings with high ceilings and large windows are best suited for contemporary art.”

“In art history programs at universities in the United States, contemporary art is by far the most popular,” notes Richard Meyer, professor of art history at Stanford University in his book “What Was Contemporary Art?” (What Was Contemporary Art? MIT Press, 2013) . “We are losing a sense of the value of the past, including the value of past art,” he adds, “and not only of aesthetic value, but also of the ways in which it told us about the culture and people who lived before us.”

To fill curatorial positions, US museums are forced to seek specialists in Europe. Gettys, for example, recently hired David Gasparotto, a former gallery director in Modena, Italy. “You can no longer find young professionals with knowledge of European art in American graduate programs,” says Sainty. “Everyone wants to do contemporary art.”

All these factors led to the fact that the art world was forced to make adjustments to the usual order of things and increasingly put the paintings of old masters and contemporary artists at exhibitions, in galleries and at auctions. So in March at Met Breuer opened an exhibition dedicated to unfinished works from the 15th century, Titian and Rembrandt, and ending with modern authors, Brice Marden (Brice Marden) and Kerry James Marshall (Kerry James Marshall). Last year, the museum launched an online project, in which contemporary artists talk about historical works from the Met collection that inspired them one way or another.

“The enthusiasm of contemporary artists about the genius of the old masters makes it possible to introduce old art to a new audience. You just need to remember that all art was once modern, ”says Thomas P. Campbell, director and chief executive officer of Met.

A similar neighborhood is often found at auctions. For example, Christie’s house includes works from different time periods in thematic bids.

“Many museums have focused on the false dichotomy: getting a young audience through contemporary art exhibitions, they hope to interest him in the works of old masters,” says Ian Wardropper, director of the Frick Museum. “I just don’t believe that. The fact is that trying to attract a visitor in reasonable ways on our own terms and doing it is interesting is not so simple, we all went through it. ”

But there is good news - old masters have become more accessible to those collectors to whom they are still interested. “You can buy a really good Rembrandt painting for $ 40-50 million. It’s not a lot of money when it comes to Rembrandt, ”says Jeff Koons.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru