About
Affordable Art Fair, Bristol
We started working with Russian artists by accident. I was working on some other projects in Russia in the early 1990's at the invitation of the Russian Academy of National Economy. This gave me a privileged insight into the overall situation in Russia after the collapse of communism. Because communism had been such a central driving force in all aspects of Russian life, not only had a political system collapsed, but also the economic, cultural and ethical systems which had drawn upon it. It must be remembered that the communist system had been a great supporter of culture so this sector was very badly hit.
I soon realised that I would not be able to contribute significantly to the overall situation, but I had began to think about waht, as an individual, I should concentrate on which was within my powers. Emerging was the idea that it art defines a society and that, of all things, assisting creative people was important when all else was failing.
With these thoughts in mind, I found myself in St Petersburg buying a watercolour from a student of the Academy of Fine Arts. I later learnt, that had I not bought this painting, the student would have had to leave the Academy since he had absolutely no money and, of course, there was negligible state support available. The accident of my being there at that time made the difference and he was able to complete his studies.
I consequently offered to help these very talented artists by acting as their agent, promoting and selling there work.
Since that time we have worked very closely with a range of artists, mostly, though not exclusively, trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg. Our network of artists has developed over the years but our approach has remained constant. Our objective is to work on behalf of the artists, selling their work and promoting awareness of its excellence. We have brought artists to the UK for varying periods of time so that they may engage with the current artistic scene here. During some of the harder times in Russia we provided artists with materials which were difficult or impossible to buy within Russia.
The training of artists in Russia has been very thorough. At the St Petersburg Academy, for example, the typical course is six years. The first two years concentrate on fundamental skills before the students work for the remaining four years in the studio of one of the masters. This structure ensues that the students have a very good grasp of the essential skills, with great emphasis placed on drawing, before developing their own particular style. Their creativity is enhanced by their command of their materials; their resulting work is not constrained by this education and is not the result of happy accident.
Since the early 20th century Russia has been to a great degree cut off from the artistic developments of the western world. As a result, for some eighty years, the Russian and western traditions have evolved in their separate ways. The exciting aspect of recent years has been the coming together of these great traditions. The last time this happened was in the immediate aftermath of the Russian Revolution when refugees from Russia did much to set the agenda for western art.
For our part, we hope that we have made some small contribution to this historic movement.
For more information please contact us:
Tel: +44 (0)142 604822 info@artistsofrussia.com
