The Moscow public may be familiar with the name of Anatoly Bekkerman in light of his flagship educational projects: in 2014, the Main Building of the Pushkin Museum hosted a large exhibition “Art as a Profession. Meeting of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman", in September 2016 in the New Manege - " Russian art from Borovikovsky to Kabakov." Beckerman is a well-known art dealer and owner of the New York gallery ABA Gallery. Anatoly did not receive a specialized education, but was born into the family of a sculptor and from childhood he learned to understand art himself. The collector’s latest visit to Moscow was associated with the opening of the exhibition “Georgian Avant-Garde” in the Department of Personal Collections of the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin, where he gave for exhibition abstract composition Kakabadze '20.

What is the main focus of your collection?

— These are masterpieces of Russian art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The direction that will always be in demand: now it is appreciated all over the world. Investors from China, England, Germany, for example, come to my ABA Gallery in New York for Russian art. Because best samples Russian art of this period is still cheaper than best works American or French artists. This is a promising segment: its growth rate is higher than that of Western art.

How many years have you been collecting art?

— Almost thirty years already. I can call my collection what I started collecting while already living in the United States, where I moved at the end of 1974, and then I began keeping a catalogue.

First painting you purchased?

— This is a painting by Korovin depicting the landscape of Gurzuf, which I bought in the tenth grade at a thrift store. I convinced my father to give me about three hundred rubles - at that time this amount was equal to the average two-month salary. Since then, Korovin has been one of my favorite artists.

Where do you buy art?

— Since I have my own gallery, people know that I collect Russian art, so dealers, auction representatives, and individuals contact us. But I can’t say that this is happening unilaterally—my employees and I are looking for some things ourselves. Now, for example, we are hunting for works by David Burliuk from the Japanese period, which are considered rare. As far as I know, only one work by Burliuk from this time is exhibited in Russia - “In the Rice Fields” of 1921 in the Russian Museum. In general, the fate of the painting can be surprising: we purchased one of Goncharova’s works privately in Brazil, and we found several paintings by Boris Grigoriev in Chile and Argentina.

Do you have a consultant you trust when it comes to purchasing art?

- Eat whole line artists that I myself understand very well are Natalya Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Alexandra Ekster, Konstantin Korovin, Ivan Puni, David Burliuk. There are areas of art, even Russian, in which I feel less confident, for example, 18th-century portraiture. In these cases, I involve art critics whom I trust. Grigory Goldovsky is a wonderful specialist from the Russian Museum in 19th-century painting; Irina Vakar and Evgenia Ilyukhina from Tretyakov Gallery— experts on Russian avant-garde; Galina Tuluzakova - researcher of the work of Nikolai Feshin; Vladimir Polyakov is a specialist in the first half of the 20th century; he recently published a monograph on Burliuk. Of course direct participation My wife, Maya Bekkerman, takes part in shaping the collection, and I like that sometimes our tastes do not coincide.

For you, is the collection an outlet or a second profession?

— Since I am a professional art dealer, this is both a job and a hobby for me. My wife and I have a private collection that we do not sell, and there are things for sale.

How many units are in your private collection?

- About three hundred, I think. I only buy when rare and important items come on the market. That's the beauty of the investment side of collecting: masterpieces are few and far between, and when they appear, I try to respond immediately. The most important criteria for a work for me are its quality, rarity and originality.

How important is participation in exhibitions for you?

— I try to respond to all worthy proposals. I am always ready to participate in projects that help popularize Russian art. We held dozens of exhibitions in New York, participated in Russian exhibitions - at the Russian Museum, at the Tretyakov Gallery, at the Pushkin Museum. At the Russian Museum these were the projects “Russian Paris”, “Russian Futurism”, “Time to Collect”, where about fifty paintings from our collection were presented. We presented a number of paintings by Natalia Goncharova for her retrospective at the Tretyakov Gallery.

What are your next exhibition plans?

— Next year we plan to bring two exhibitions to Russia. The first is “Masterpieces of the Russian Abroad,” where works by Goncharova, Larionov, Grigoriev, Roerich, Falk, Korovin, created not in Russia, will be exhibited. The second project is photographs by Mikhail Baryshnikov. The exhibitions will be held simultaneously: on this subject we are negotiating with a space that is already familiar to us and suitable for the idea - the New Manege. We are going to participate in Mikhail Larionov’s exhibition in 2018, we are preparing a large exhibition of David Burliuk in Japan, Spain and Russia - 2018 will be the year of friendship between Japan and Russia.

Who do you consider to be influential collectors in Russia?

- Petra Aven, who has a wonderful eye and good taste. He has a very serious art collection, which was recently exhibited to a sold-out in New York at the Neue Gallery. I myself stood in line for Aven’s exhibition and have great respect for his knowledge and approach to collecting. Boris Mints opened a worthy museum of Russian impressionism - this is a big deal, I, for example, do not have such ambitions and opportunities. I know that another good collector, Igor Tsukanov, is planning to open a private museum, who is still doing a lot of useful things for Russia and modern Russian art.

Do you like contemporary artists?

— The “freshest” that I have are the works of the sixties: Kabakov, Weinberg, Nemukhin, Krasnopevtsev. We held an exhibition of Oleg Tselkov a year ago, it was a great success. We also have works by my younger brother, the famous and sought-after artist Edward Beckerman.

Paintings from your collection with unusual story acquisitions?

— We recently found wonderful picture Nikolai Ulyanov " Procession", it was at an exhibition of Russian art in New York in 1924, and has since been lost. Just recently they found a completed sketch for Vladimir Makovsky’s painting “Party,” which is in the Tretyakov Gallery. The sketch itself in last time exhibited in 1902.

Where is the bulk of your collection kept?

“It is concentrated in several residences in the United States and in a warehouse. It's impossible to hang everything.

What do you think about the attitude towards Russian art abroad?

— It is gaining popularity every year. Recently, an auction took place in London, at which Russian artists set a number of records. In the museum contemporary art An exhibition of Russian avant-garde opened in New York, and a retrospective of Alexei Yavlensky was opened in the same Neue Gallery. This is a very positive dynamic. Although Americans, in fact, have always loved Russian art: in 2005, the “Russia” exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum broke all attendance records.

How will you manage the collection in the future?

— I hope it’s too early to think about it. But I have two daughters. We periodically give something to Russian institutions, and I plan to continue charitable steps in this direction.

Yours latest acquisition for your personal collection?

— Just a rare work by David Burliuk from the Japanese period, “Rickshaw” (1923), where you can see the influence of the country’s art on his work. Burliuk lived in Japan for two years; his works were collected by the emperor and his sister.

David Burliuk. Rickshaw. 1923

April 22 at the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin opens the next exhibition from the series “Collections and Collectors”. The exhibition includes Grigoriev, Arkhipov, Anisfeld, Burliuk, Korovin, Goncharova, Feshin and others.

Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkina, April 22 - June 1, 2014
Moscow, st. Volkhonka, 12

In the year of the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Museum of Personal Collections, one of the departments of the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin, the museum continues to introduce the Russian audience to the most famous collectors and their collections. On April 22, 2014, in the “Collections and Collectors” series, the exhibition “Art as a Profession. Collection of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman." The exhibition includes works emigrant period Russian artists first half of the 20th century.

Anatoly Bekkerman, collector and art dealer, owner of the AVA gallery, which has existed for more than 30 years in New York. Works from this collection were exhibited at many significant art exhibitions presented in our country: “Russian Futurism and David Burliuk” (2000) and “Russian Paris” (2001) at the State Russian Museum; “American Artists from the Russian Empire” (2008/2009) at the State Russian Museum and State Tretyakov Gallery; “Time to Collect” (2012) at the State Museum-Reserve “Tsaritsyno” and the State Russian Museum, and in 2013 works from the Bekkerman collection were presented at exhibitions that aroused great interest among the domestic audience: “Philip Malyavin” at the State Russian Museum and “ Natalia Goncharova" in the State Tretyakov Gallery.

A. Bekkerman was one of the organizers of the exhibition “The Art With Which I Live” from the collection of Mikhail Baryshnikov, which was successfully held in October 2013 - January 2014 at the Museum of Personal Collections of the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin.

For the first time in Russia, the collection of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman will be exhibited as an independent project. In the White Hall and on the colonnade of the Main Building of the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin will feature works by those artists whose work is presented monographically in the collection - “Woman with a Bouquet of Lilacs” (1922) by Konstantin Korovin, “Capri I” (1910–1911) by Boris Anisfeld, “ Spanish dancer"(1916) by Natalia Goncharova, "Fisherman with a Crab" (1922–1923) by Boris Grigoriev, "Wind" (1916) by David Burliuk and other works.

A special part of the exhibition (room No. 20) will consist of works that were once part of the New York collection of M. and A. Bekkerman, and are now in museums and private collections in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These are works such as “Portrait of S. I. Mollo” (1917) by Boris Grigoriev, “Petersburg” (1912) by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, “Palm Sunday on Red Square” (1917) by Boris Kustodiev, “Portrait of David Burliuk” (1923) by Nikolai Feshin from the collection of the State Russian Museum and “The Seine Embankment. Screen" (1930s) by Natalia Goncharova from the collection of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and others.

The exhibition of works from the collection of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman will be a real discovery for the Russian public and will complement the understanding of both the work of individual masters and the history of art in general.

Sources: press announcement of the Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin, ABA gallery (New York)

Attention! All materials on the site and the database of auction results on the site, including illustrated reference information about works sold at auction, are intended for use exclusively in accordance with Art. 1274 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Use for commercial purposes or in violation of the rules established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is not permitted. the site is not responsible for the content of materials provided by third parties. In case of violation of the rights of third parties, the site administration reserves the right to remove them from the site and from the database based on a request from the authorized body.

• 27.09.2019 Bella Hadid appeared as a harlequin, Kaia Gerber came out in a girl's dress with a mandolin. And the star of the show of the Moschino collection for the Fall 2020 season was model Kara Taylor in a picture dress and with a frame in her hands
• 24.09.2019 The embankment of the Moscow River, adjacent to the former ZIL industrial zone (now the ZILART site), is being rebuilt to the level of a city park
• 23.09.2019 Three canvases from among the confiscated paintings former minister finance of the Moscow region and its ex-wife will be presented at the exhibition “Color. 90 masterpieces from museums in the Moscow region", which will be held from September 28 to March 29, 2019
• 19.09.2019 The publication is dedicated to the Caucasian period of the life and work of the world artist. The book publishes for the first time all the paintings by Eugene Lanceray, made during his travels 1917–1934
• 19.09.2019 Another material that almost completely absorbs light was created by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute of Technology. It allows artists to create spectacular objects whose shape is invisible to the human eye

• 27.09.2019 45% of lots sold. We are recording an increase in purchasing activity. Purchased paintings and drawings will be sent to buyers from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Western Europe
• 23.09.2019 The traditional twenty lots of the AI ​​Auction are eleven paintings, five sheets of original graphics, three works in mixed media and one wood sculpture
• 20.09.2019 The 154th auction of the “auction of the season” class was completed in the hall at Shchepkina, 28. The results for all lots have already been entered into our database. Read about what happened in the hall in the AI ​​report
• 17.09.2019 The auction of Russian and Western European art will take place on September 21, 2019. The catalog contains 568 lots: paintings and graphics, silver, porcelain, etc.
• 17.09.2019 The traditional twenty lots of the AI ​​Auction are nine paintings, seven original sheets and one - printed graphics, one mixed media work and one porcelain object

• 26.09.2019 AI publishes quotes from recent interviews, speeches and Internet posts by willing and unwilling participants in the art process. Here's what interesting things were said in September
• 13.08.2019 Brief excerpts and main figures from the traditional review of the Artprice portal on the state of the global art market
• 09.08.2019

The name of Anatoly Bekkerman may be familiar to the Moscow public in the light of his flagship educational projects: in 2014, the main building of the Pushkin Museum hosted a large exhibition “Art as a Profession. Collection of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman”, in September 2016 in the New Manege - “Russian art from Borovikovsky to Kabakov”. Beckerman is a well-known art dealer and owner of the New York gallery ABA Gallery. Anatoly did not receive a specialized education, but was born into the family of a sculptor and from childhood he learned to understand art himself. The collector’s latest visit to Moscow was associated with the opening of the exhibition “Georgian Avant-Garde” in the Department of Personal Collections of the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin, where he gave Kakabadze’s abstract composition of the 20th year for exhibition.

What is the main focus of your collection?

— These are masterpieces of Russian art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The direction that will always be in demand: now it is appreciated all over the world. Investors from China, England, Germany, for example, come to my ABA Gallery in New York for Russian art. Because the best examples of Russian art from this period are still cheaper than the best works by American or French artists. This is a promising segment: its growth rate is higher than that of Western art.

How many years have you been collecting art?

— Almost thirty years already. I can call my collection what I started collecting while already living in the United States, where I moved at the end of 1974, and then I began keeping a catalogue.

First painting you purchased?

— This is a painting by Korovin depicting the landscape of Gurzuf, which I bought in the tenth grade at a thrift store. I convinced my father to give me about three hundred rubles - at that time this amount was equal to the average two-month salary. Since then, Korovin has been one of my favorite artists.

Where do you buy art?

— Since I have my own gallery, people know that I collect Russian art, so dealers, auction representatives, and individuals contact us. But I can’t say that this is happening unilaterally—my employees and I are looking for some things ourselves. Now, for example, we are hunting for works by David Burliuk from the Japanese period, which are considered rare. As far as I know, only one work by Burliuk from this time is exhibited in Russia - “In the Rice Fields” of 1921 in the Russian Museum. In general, the fate of the painting can be surprising: we purchased one of Goncharova’s works privately in Brazil, and we found several paintings by Boris Grigoriev in Chile and Argentina.

Do you have a consultant you trust when it comes to purchasing art?

- There are a number of artists that I myself understand very well - these are Natalya Goncharova, Mikhail Larionov, Alexandra Ekster, Konstantin Korovin, Ivan Puni, David Burliuk. There are areas of art, even Russian, in which I feel less confident, for example, 18th-century portraiture. In these cases, I involve art critics whom I trust. Grigory Goldovsky is a wonderful specialist from the Russian Museum in 19th-century painting; Irina Vakar and Evgenia Ilyukhina from the Tretyakov Gallery are experts on the Russian avant-garde; Galina Tuluzakova - researcher of the work of Nikolai Feshin; Vladimir Polyakov is a specialist in the first half of the 20th century; he recently published a monograph on Burliuk. Of course, my wife, Maya Bekkerman, is directly involved in the formation of the collection, and I like that sometimes our tastes do not coincide.

For you, is the collection an outlet or a second profession?

— Since I am a professional art dealer, this is both a job and a hobby for me. My wife and I have a private collection that we do not sell, and there are things for sale.

How many items are in your private collection?

- About three hundred, I think. I only buy when rare and important items come on the market. That's the beauty of the investment side of collecting: masterpieces are few and far between, and when they appear, I try to respond immediately. The most important criteria for a work for me are its quality, rarity and originality.

How important is participation in exhibitions for you?

— I try to respond to all worthy proposals. I am always ready to participate in projects that help popularize Russian art. We held dozens of exhibitions in New York, participated in Russian exhibitions - at the Russian Museum, at the Tretyakov Gallery, at the Pushkin Museum. At the Russian Museum these were the projects “Russian Paris”, “Russian Futurism”, “Time to Collect”, where about fifty paintings from our collection were presented. We presented a number of paintings by Natalia Goncharova for her retrospective at the Tretyakov Gallery.

What are your next exhibition plans?

— Next year we plan to bring two exhibitions to Russia. The first is “Masterpieces of the Russian Abroad,” where works by Goncharova, Larionov, Grigoriev, Roerich, Falk, Korovin, created not in Russia, will be exhibited. The second project is photographs by Mikhail Baryshnikov. The exhibitions will be held simultaneously: on this subject we are negotiating with a space that is already familiar to us and suitable for the idea - the New Manege. We are going to participate in Mikhail Larionov’s exhibition in 2018, we are preparing a large exhibition of David Burliuk in Japan, Spain and Russia - 2018 will be the year of friendship between Japan and Russia.

Who do you consider to be influential collectors in Russia?

- Petra Aven, who has a wonderful eye and good taste. He has a very serious art collection, which was recently exhibited to a sold-out in New York at the Neue Gallery. I myself stood in line for Aven’s exhibition and have great respect for his knowledge and approach to collecting. Boris Mints opened a worthy museum of Russian impressionism - this is a big deal, I, for example, do not have such ambitions and opportunities. I know that another good collector, Igor Tsukanov, is planning to open a private museum, who is still doing a lot of useful things for Russia and modern Russian art.

Do you like contemporary artists?

— The “freshest” that I have are the works of the sixties: Kabakov, Weinberg, Nemukhin, Krasnopevtsev. We held an exhibition of Oleg Tselkov a year ago, it was a great success. We also have works by my younger brother, the famous and sought-after artist Edward Beckerman.

Paintings from your collection with an unusual acquisition history?

— We recently found a wonderful painting by Nikolai Ulyanov “The Procession”; it was at an exhibition of Russian art in New York in 1924, and has since been lost. Just recently they found a completed sketch for Vladimir Makovsky’s painting “Party”, which is in the Tretyakov Gallery. The sketch itself was last exhibited in 1902.

Where is the bulk of your collection kept?

“It is concentrated in several residences in the United States and in a warehouse. It's impossible to hang everything.

What do you think about the attitude towards Russian art abroad?

— It is gaining popularity every year. Recently, an auction took place in London, at which Russian artists set a number of records. An exhibition of the Russian avant-garde has opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and a retrospective of Alexei Jawlensky has opened at the same Neue Gallery. This is a very positive dynamic. Although Americans, in fact, have always loved Russian art: in 2005, the “Russia” exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum broke all attendance records.

How will you manage the collection in the future?

— I hope it’s too early to think about it. But I have two daughters. We periodically give something to Russian institutions, and I plan to continue charitable steps in this direction.

What is your latest acquisition for your personal collection?

— Just a rare work by David Burliuk from the Japanese period, “Rickshaw” (1923), where you can see the influence of the country’s art on his work. Burliuk lived in Japan for two years; his works were collected by the emperor and his sister.

David Burliuk. Rickshaw. 1923

April 23 at the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin opened the exhibition “Art as a Profession. Collection of Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman" - a large-scale exhibition from a private American collection, shown in the largest museum Moscow. About a hundred works by Burliuk, Falk, Altman, Korovin, Anisfeld, Grigoriev and other artists were brought from the New York ABA Gallery, founded by Beckerman about 30 years ago. Some of these items have been exhibited in Russia, but this is the first time that the Bekkerman collection is exhibited here as an independent project. On the eve of the opening day, a correspondent for Lechaim magazine visited the ABA Gallery and learned the details of the creation of the collection first-hand.

Irina Kordonskaya I noticed Tyshler’s sculptures here - I didn’t even know about their existence. Will they be at the exhibition in Moscow?

Anatoly Bekkerman No. But there is a lot of Tyshler in our gallery, and several years ago we held a large exhibition of him.

IR Recently at the Pushkin Museum. A. S. Pushkin, the Department of Personal Collections hosted an exhibition from the collection of Mikhail Baryshnikov. Do I understand correctly that it was organized by you?

AB With my participation: first it was held in New York, in my gallery.

IR In Moscow it was a huge success. In general, in Russian museums, as far as I know, quite a few things were obtained by you.

AB And we are showing some of them at the current exhibition: in the 21st room hang works that have passed through my gallery. Several things were given by the Russian Museum - among other things, a portrait of Burliuk by Feshin, and something by the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Collectors from Russia provided items they had once purchased from me.

For example, “Summer Evening” by Borisov-Musatov. The history of this work is curious: one day an art dealer called me and offered me a large canvas by Borisov-Musatov. I don’t mind, but this is very rare - when have you seen a meter-long Borisov-Musatov? There was a watercolor recently, it went for one and a half million, but an oil, and even this size... I called a friend in Moscow and told him - he starts laughing. But they send me a photograph of this painting and a catalog of a 1904 exhibition in St. Louis, where there were four works by Borisov-Musatov, and this is one of them. A certain family bought it and hung it on the wall. And I bought from them.

IR Do you deal only with Russian avant-garde?

AB Of course not. They come to me different people, which sometimes amaze me, but also make me happy - someone wants Repin, someone wants Goncharova, someone wants Bulatova and Kabakov... Here's a story about the great Aivazovsky - this was in 1995. I receive an antique newspaper, I see a black and white photograph, on it there is the sea, a man on the shore. Signed by the American artist Hansen - he was like that, specialized in a marine theme. I tell my friend: what a Hansen, this is Aivazovsky. I arrive: a canvas 2x3 m, signed by Hansen, and under it - Aivazovsky. People didn’t know the name, wanted to sell it, and stuck the signature of an American artist on top. The estimate was 5-7 thousand dollars. I offered 50 thousand. The owner says: “I would love to, Hansen is not worth it, but we must sell according to the law, through an auction.” I was ready to pay 250 thousand, but the bidding stopped at seven.

IR When you hear stories of such finds from a dealer or collector, you easily believe them. But reading the same thing in the annotation for the auction lot, you begin to doubt.

AB And yet... Look, we have a still life on display here by Robert Falk, 1914, known from the “Jack of Diamonds” exhibition. In Dmitry Sarabyanov’s book dedicated to Falk, it is said about this work: “location unknown.” And I found it at an American auction - it is known that the canvas was acquired by a certain government agency from Angelina Shchekin-Krotova, Falk’s widow, and someone took it to the USA. Or Bakst’s work: in New York, next to Carnegie Hall, around the corner, there once was a “Russian Tea-room”, where all the celebrities went - dancers, singers, White Guard generals. The owners had Russian roots. And this is how it happens: the establishment is long gone, and Bakst, who hung there, is in my gallery.

IR You specialize in Russian art - is there a lot of it in the States, and in the West in general?

AB Russian auction weeks are held twice a year. There are super things, but by definition there cannot be many of them; each artist has no more than 5–7% of masterpieces.

IR But treasures are found less often than 20 years ago?

AB No, they just hunt for them more actively. People from Russia live all over the world, and they want to create their own collections. This is one of the reasons why I think this market is promising. Moreover, it is not only collectors with Russian roots who buy. Americans have a wonderful quality: they are willing to listen and learn. Some of them simply invest money because this is a virgin market - a growing market, like China or Brazil, but others get a taste for it.

IR You said a growing market. Are our artists getting more expensive?

AB Russian painting, despite the records that we have seen since the early 1990s, is far from real prices. Look at American artists: a painting by Norman Rockwell was recently sold for 46 million, Edward Hopper - for 40 million. Russian art has never dreamed of these prices, if you don’t take Kandinsky, Malevich and Chagall. The most expensive Korovin at auction was sold for $3 million. And Korovin, together with Serov, are the main Russian impressionists, American artists of the same level and period are 10 times more expensive. So it’s not over yet - there is room to grow.

IR By selling things to private collections, you earn money. But selling to Russian museums...

AB Of course, often these sales occur with financial losses, because the Russian Museum could never pay the market value of the canvas. But I just want to return some iconic things to Russia. It is important to me that these works hang here and are publicly available. Tsereteli bought Larionov, Ekster, Goncharova, Burliuk for the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, and these things are actually on permanent display, they are given for exhibitions. Here, by the way, we are showing Burliuk’s striking work - “Japanese Woman Sowing Rice” - one of the main futurist masterpieces, on the level of the works of the famous Italian futurist Balla. But his paintings are worth millions. And this painting by Burliuk, by the way, belonged to Mayakovsky.

IR In your collection, I noticed a very unusual Falk - a bouquet that is inexplicably bright for his palette as we know it.

AB In fact, nothing unusual, it’s just 1927 - we know Falk better from another time. You understand, this business is interesting to me precisely because of the possibility of discoveries. In the fifth grade, I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist, and apparently my passion for finding rarities, for blowing the dust off rarities, remained. I just bought several paintings by Shterenberg and Labas at auction. Shterenberg, apart from the fakes that end up at auctions, is a very rare artist, his works are few. And here a whole collection was on sale: it turned out that a certain Italian journalist had worked in Russia at one time and bought paintings. And he took it away - now the heirs are selling it. And at the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum there is Sterenberg - bought in New York, in a private collection. The painting was purchased directly from the artist in Paris in the 1920s.

IR Your exhibition evokes involuntary associations with the recent exhibition from the collection of Vyacheslav Kantor, who, as is known, collects only Jewish artists. You have a lot of them too.

AB Vyacheslav Kantor has a magnificent collection. But I did not set myself the task of collecting Jewish artists. It’s just that there are indeed many Jews among the masters of the Russian avant-garde. And many of them ended up abroad. The same Boris Anisfeld settled in New York in 1918, and his exhibition was held at the Brooklyn Museum - about 200 works created in Russia. Alexandra Exter died in Europe. I wanted to buy her work and knew that she was very friendly with the artist Simon Lissim, who emigrated to the USA - provenance from him is considered a guarantee of genuine Exter. I found Lissim's nephew. Or Boris Grigoriev - I bought a lot of him in Latin America, because he lived there and taught. They repeatedly tried to buy his “Man with a Bull” from me; they offered money that was several times higher than the market price. I thought about it. And the wife says: no way. If any of us is a collector, it’s probably her. Someone once said that an art dealer lives from what he sells and gets rich from what he keeps. This is true.

The famous New York gallery “ABA” presents two exhibitions at the “New Manege”: “Russian Art: Finds and Discoveries” and “Mikhail Baryshnikov, from the “Dance” cycle.” In 2014, the founders of the gallery Maya and Anatoly Bekkerman presented at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin's things from his personal collection, and last year the Moscow public could get acquainted with rare works - from Borovikovsky to Kabakov. On the eve of the current opening day, “Culture” met with Anatoly Bekkerman and talked about the search for masterpieces, exposing fakes using blockchain, and cultural exchange between Russia and the United States.

culture: What discoveries will viewers see this time?
Beckerman: For example, a landscape by Alexei Savrasov, painted in 1852. Job early period- There are literally only a few such things in Russian museums. Moreover, the picture interesting story. It belonged to the family of a Swedish entrepreneur who came to Russian Empire and founded the first electrical textile processing factory in Moscow. He made it one of the largest in Europe, and received the title of baron from Alexander II for his services. In 1917, his descendants left Russia, taking with them the collection, including Savrasov’s work.

We show two works by David Burliuk dating back to the Japanese period. Also very rare: the artist spent time in the Country rising sun almost two years. Eat interesting thing Konstantin Korovin - image of Gurzuf, dating back to 1912. In 1940, the painting was donated to the university in Stockholm, which after some time decided to sell it. They also brought a landscape by Abram Arkhipov and a portrait painted by Nikolai Feshin, a favorite not only of the Russian but also of the American public. He lived in the States for a significant period of his life.

culture: You also show photographs taken by Mikhail Baryshnikov. In 2008, his photographs were already shown at Winzavod. What will surprise you about the current exhibition?
Beckerman: This will be a premiere, as far as I know, we will repeat only one shot. Mikhail Nikolaevich not only legendary artist and an outstanding dancer. His view as a photographer is interesting. The shooting method is based on long exposure: blurry, moving shapes the best way convey the feeling, energy, rhythm of the dance. In addition, we will introduce the public to 24 photographs of Ilse Bing from his collection. The works of the Frankfurt native are in all museums around the world, but they have never been shown in Russia. She was friends with Mikhail Baryshnikov and gave him these works.

culture: How do you find masterpieces? There is an opinion that first-class things have long settled in museums and private collections.
Beckerman: Indeed, there is little worth, but discoveries are still possible. IN late XIX- at the beginning of the 20th century, large exhibitions took place in America - in particular, Aivazovsky, many works remained in the New World. We have a whole staff of people engaged in searches. There are phenomenal pictures in Latin America, where emigrants from Russia lived. The same Boris Grigoriev regularly visited Chile for several years. However, don’t think that we discover a masterpiece every day; sometimes the search takes years. Even when you know where the painting is, you spend a lot of time trying to persuade the owner to “release” it into the world.

culture: You not only form your own collection and gallery collection, but also act as an expert. What do you do if you see an unknown thing? famous master, moreover, different in style and manner? On your last exhibition A number of works by Natalia Goncharova raised questions among critics precisely because of their atypicality.
Beckerman: I have been working with this artist for many years. I approach the selection of paintings with great responsibility. Some periods are not well known to Russian specialists, especially when we're talking about about works created far from the homeland. For example, Goncharova has non-objective compositions from the “Cosmos” series, written in the 1950s. Several samples are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, they are well studied there. And yet something may escape the attention of experts. We always conduct serious research, find out the provenance: whether the work was exhibited, where, when, whether similar things exist.

culture: At one time, the Russian art market was flooded with fakes. Has the situation changed?
Beckerman: I think these rumors are greatly exaggerated. Paintings by American, Italian, and German authors are counterfeited no less often. A few years ago, the 165-year-old Knoedler & Company gallery in New York City closed. They were selling fake works by Mark Rothko. Or the scandal with the forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, who successfully copied avant-garde representatives like Max Ernst and Kees van Dongen. He made a mistake when he was too lazy to make old paint and bought ready-made titanium white, which was not found at the beginning of the 20th century. The level of knowledge and research methods are advancing, so there are fewer and fewer fakes.

And yet, sometimes collectors come and add to their collections using Ebay. Their expenses often amount to millions of dollars. They buy Goncharova online for 500 or 1000 dollars and are happy good deal, because dealers or auctions sell similar things huge money. We have to disappoint them.

culture: Nowadays, many are talking about blockchain technology, which will help make the art market more transparent...
Beckerman: I welcome all positive changes. However, this method is not omnipotent. Not long ago we acquired a painting by Goncharova. It was not signed. It was kept in the collection of people who ran a paint store. The artist made purchases from them, donated her works, and sometimes exchanged them for materials. Sometimes works do not appear anywhere at all, they are never exhibited. IN similar cases expertise required.

culture: Is interest in Russian art increasing?
Beckerman: It is still undervalued, but there is momentum, and, in my opinion, it will increase in price. The time will come when the cost of domestic paintings will be equal to the best examples Western schools. Exhibitions of our artists still attract the attention of foreign viewers. For example, “Russia!” at the Guggenheim Museum in 2005 broke the attendance record. The American public is very receptive to Russian art. Unfortunately, in last years Nothing is brought to the States from Russian museums. We are modestly trying to fill this void: we organize exhibitions in the USA and bring projects to Russia. I hope that through cultural exchange, relations between countries will gradually improve.

culture: What do you plan to offer to domestic viewers?
Beckerman: We want to organize an exhibition of Burliuk with the Russian Museum and then show it in Moscow. We are also going to present Korovin’s French items there. I don’t have sponsors: I finance such projects myself. I perceive them as a way to popularize and promote Russian art: I consider it a duty, a kind of mission.