14.01.2019
ArtsLook has traditionally summed up the open tenders of Ukrainian contemporary art that took place both in Ukraine and abroad for the fifth consecutive year.
This year, our ranking has hit fifty percent of the work that was implemented at international auctions such as Phillips and Sotheby’s, while the other half found its new owners at the Golden Section Golden Auction. Compared to 2017, this year has shown low results. The leader of our rating was the sculpture “Awakening Bark” by a young Kyiv artist Yegor Ziguri, which was sold at the beginning of December at the Phillips auction in London for $ 15,612. Last year, his other work, “The Awaken Column”, also opened our rating, which can testify to the demand for Ukrainian contemporary sculpture among collectors.
According to the co-owner of the auction house “Golden Section” Mikhail Vasylenko, in Ukraine there is an increased demand for contemporary art – the cost of their works continues to grow by 12-15% per annum. No less interesting for collectors in 2018 were pictures of representatives of the underground direction – this segment has been showing steady growth for several years after the political and economic crisis in our country. At the same time, he emphasizes that the sale of art is much less influenced by the political situation in Ukraine. This testifies to the strengthening of the positions of the Ukrainian art market and the reliability of investments in art.
If open sales tend to have modest results, presumably because of the reluctance of collectors to publicly announce their replenishment, then the private sales format this year has far better results. According to ArtsLooker, the cost of successful deals on the work of certain artists was up to $ 100 thousand.
Consequently, the top 10 most expensive works of art of domestic authors, which were sold at auctions during 2018, are offered to your attention. Charity open trades were not included in the rating.
1. Egor Zigura, ” Kora is awakening”, 2016, edition 5/15. London, auction house “Phillips”. Sold December 5, 2018 for $ 15,612
2. Egor Zigura, “The Colossus That Holds the World”, 2016, edition 11/15. London, auction house “Phillips”. Sold April 21, 2018 for $ 9,750
3. Iryna Akimova, “Park alley in the shade”, 2018. London, auction house “Phillips”. Sold December 5, 2018 for $ 8,780
4. Anatoly Kryvolap, “Landscape”, 1990. Kyiv, auction house “Golden Section”. Sold on November 28, 2018 for $ 6,050
5. Ilya Chichkan, “Woman’s Portrait”, 1995. Kyiv, auction house “Golden Section”. Sold on November 28, 2018 for $ 5,225
6. Yuri Pliss, “Nude with a Cat”, 1994. Kyiv, auction house “Golden Section”. Sold on May 31, 2018 for $ 4,950
7. Alexander Roytburd, “Meeting”, lect. 1980s Kyiv, auction house “Golden Section”. Sold on November 28, 2018 for $ 4,950
8. Arsen Savadov, “Untitled in the series Love Story”, 2000, edition 1/7. London, auction house “Sotheby’s”. Sold on November 27, 2018 for $ 4,783
9. Arsen Savadov, “Untitled in the Red Series”, 1998, 1/5 edition. London, auction house “Sotheby’s”. Sold on November 27, 2018 for $ 4,783
10. Mykhailo Deyak, “Night Kyiv”, 2011. Kyiv, auction house “Golden Section”. Sold on November 28, 2018 for $ 4,440
